A public inquiry into a controversial development in Thornbury will begin this morning (Tuesday, January 22).

The inquiry into the 370-home Bovis Homes development on land south of Gloucester Road will begin at 10am, with opening submissions set to be made by South Gloucestershire Council, Bovis and The Tortworth Estate.

It is estimated the inquiry will sit for 16 days with sessions held at Turnberries Community Centre, Bath Road.

Submissions from third parties, including members of the public, are scheduled to be heard on February 1, with a site visit planned for February 28.

As well as the new homes, originally numbering 400, proposals for the site include a flexible-use building and public open space.

The plans received opposition from numerous councillors and residents, with claims made that the town’s infrastructure is already under considerable pressure and worries that the site was too close to the proposed 3,000-home Buckover Garden Village.

In March, South Gloucestershire Council's development control committee voted unanimously to reject the proposals.

But, as the council was unable to make a formal decision in the allotted time, the developer appealed with the final decision to be made by the planning inspectorate.

In June council leader Toby Savage wrote to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire, asking that he recover the planning appeal from the Planning Inspectors and make the decisions himself.

The inquiry was originally scheduled to start in September before being postponed. A pre-inquiry meeting was instead held that month with the inquiry rescheduled for January.

The inquiry will now sit Tuesday-Friday for four non-consecutive weeks. This will be on the four weeks beginning January 21 and 28, and February 11 and 25.