Residents of Gloucestershire are voicing strong opposition to the Forest of Dean District Council’s recent Nature and Climate Emergency Strategy 2026–2040, unveiled alongside plans for a large new town near the Malvern Hills. The strategy aims to integrate nature recovery and climate resilience into local planning, empowering communities to help shape the district’s future.
However, the council’s simultaneous consideration of major housing developments—specifically a proposed 3,500-home settlement near junction two of the M50—is igniting outrage among locals. These new settlements, located off the A40 at Churcham and the A417 in Redmarley, form part of the council’s mandated effort to accommodate about 13,000 new homes over the next two decades.
Rather than dispersing new homes throughout the district, the council favors concentrated, sustainably designed settlements with adequate infrastructure. Yet campaigners from United Against Glynchbrook highlight a stark contradiction: the council’s own assessments deem Glynchbrook’s development as “unlikely” to qualify as sustainable.
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The official evaluation warns the project would cause significant landscape damage, fail to provide low carbon access to essential services, and pose flood risks due to flood zones running through the proposed site. This stands in contrast with the council’s environmental strategy, which pledges to promote net-zero developments and properly scrutinize carbon-intensive or environmentally harmful planning applications.
Dawn Munn, a local designer aged 62, expressed her frustration: “It feels insulting that the council asks residents to engage with a nature and climate strategy while simultaneously pushing forward with Glynchbrook—a development their own report says will damage our natural landscape.”
Andrew Elliott, 64, echoed these sentiments: “Climate change is an emergency, and we must protect nature. But the council’s plan to build a sprawling new town on the green belt near the Malvern Hills shows they don’t share that priority. They’re paving over green spaces to create a car-dominated development, which is far from green.”
Elliott added, “It infuriates me and many others that the council seeks public input on environmental policy yet fails to apply these principles to its own housing plans.”
Chris McFarling, cabinet member for the climate emergency, declined to comment on the controversy.
The council will review feedback from the public consultation on the local plan, including responses related to Glynchbrook, before making a final decision on adoption.