Glynchbrook and Churcham Scrapped: Green Party Admits Defeat But Leaves the Dean at Risk
Next week, the Green administration at the Forest of Dean District Council is set to ask full council to scrap the highly controversial Local Plan they have spent the last three years trying to force through.
Extract from FODDC Agenda
Ever since taking power, they have completely ignored both the public and fellow councillors .
This sudden U-turn on Wednesday has nothing to do with the administration finally seeing sense, nor does it mean they have suddenly decided to listen to our local communities. They are dumping the plan simply because they have been flatly told it will not pass independent planning inspection. It is not up to scratch, it does not cut the mustard, and it completely fails the basic "doable" test. There has been no joined-up thinking, no economic policy to support the massive volume of new housing, and zero planning for the necessary infrastructure or business growth.
While many residents will breathe a sigh of relief that the ill-advised plans for two new settlement towns are being thrown out alongside it, the wider fallout is incredibly worrying. With no Local Plan in place and no protected five-year housing land supply, this Green administration has left the Forest of Dean completely exposed to speculative, large-scale developments in locations where it never should have happened. Neighbourhood Development Plans will be brought into question meaning years of hard graft by community members may become worthless
Back in 2023, the Green Party inherited a workable, baseline plan that could have been fully implemented within 12 months—a plan that would have brought vital jobs, infrastructure, and housing to the district. Instead, they chose to chase vanity projects like these eco-led "new towns" just so they could show them off at Green Party gatherings. Much like their disastrous obsession with the biosphere designation, they have consistently put rigid ideology ahead of what is actually good for the Forest of Dean.
Wednesday's vote will bring a deeply damaging chapter for the Forest of Dean District Council to an end. It needs to be followed by immediate resignations from the cabinet, and it must mark the end of any political support offered to this administration by either Labour or the single Liberal Democrat councillor.
This Green administration has never been fit for purpose, and it is time for the experiment to end.
In fact, it is time to practice what they preach and recycle themselves out of office.
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