Cam and the Berkeley Vale is the “dumping ground” for new housing in Stroud District say residents who fear the area will not cope with the thousands of planned homes.

People in Cam are among those calling on Stroud District Council (SDC) to withdraw its “flawed” blueprint for future development.

Inspectors have raised serious concerns over the viability of the Local Plan which has been put forward by Stroud District Council.

This document aims to set out future strategic development and details the levels and types of growth that have been planned for in the district until 2040.

But inspectors say junctions 12 and 14 need upgrading to accommodate the planned growth.

There are also issues with the provision of the pedestrian and cycle bridge over the motorway for the Wisloe development

And they have also called into question the sustainable transport proposed for the planned new garden village at Sharpness.

Jo Kendall, of Cam Community Action Group, says council chiefs have got their heads in the sand and the blueprint should be scrapped as services in the area are already “creaking”.

She says Cam will not be able to cope with the more than 1,000 homes planned for the village.

“Cam and the Berkeley Vale are the dumping ground for housing in the Stroud District.

“We are out of sight, out of mind. They are protecting the Five Valleys.

“They keep lumping us in with Dursley. Cam and Dursley this, Cam and Dursley that. We are expected in Cam to share the overstretched facilities that are available within Dursley.”

She said there are only 10 homes in the development blueprint have been allocated for Dursley.

“We are angry in Cam. We are pretty bloody furious that we are being stitched up like kippers.

“We’ve got loads of people who have moved in from other areas. Something like 80 per cent of new houses that are being built here are being sold to people from Bristol.

“We are not building for local people, we are building for commuters. It’s not that they are not welcome but we want the infrastructure to go with it.”

Cam Parish Council say they are one of many town and parish councils across the Stroud District extremely disappointed in SDC’s proposal to pause its Local Plan review.

They said in a recent open letter to the council that more sustainable alternative sites were omitted from inclusion in the blueprint.

“This is particularly concerning for areas like Cam, Slimbridge and Berkeley given the restraints on infrastructure and continuing heavy reliance on private transport, over pressed medical and education facilities and non-existent employment opportunities.

“We therefore implore the authorities who can still influence development, to stand by their comments and review or oppose any major developments that may come forward citing the inefficient infrastructure of the wider area and in particular Junctions 12 and 14 of the M5 as holistically many of those sites will drive more commuters to the highlighted bottlenecks without greater investment and resourcing within both the private and public transport networks.”

A Stroud District Council spokesperson said the inspectors’ letter does not raise concerns over the soundness of any of the allocated sites in Cam.

“A Local Plan gives councils and communities significant influence over where new homes to meet Government established housing targets are best located,” they said.

“Without it, councils have less say over where new developments are built. Allocation of any new development in Stroud district is heavily constrained by the Cotswold area of outstanding natural beauty to the east and the Severn floodplain to the west.

“Extensive public consultation and engagement with communities is a crucial part of the process.

“This includes consultation and engagement with all town and parish councils.

“The results of this process have been fed in to the formulation of the Local Plan, which has been through the democratic process and was approved by full council at SDC.

“The Inspector’s letter does not raise issues of soundness with any allocation located in Cam.

“The capacity issues concerning Junctions 12 and 14 of the M5 are not matters which SDC can resolve on its own, and can only be resolved by working with partners including National Highways.”