A FOUR year saga over plans to demolish a convenience shop and build homes on the site has come to an end after councillors reluctantly gave it planning permission.

Permission has been granted for five houses on the site of the Summerhayes General Stores in Cam despite protests from residents.

Homeowners living on the estate have battled against plans to build several properties on the land since 2007.

An application for 12 flats by the owners, Mr and Mrs Shetal Shah, was turned down by the council in 2007 and again by an appeal committee. An application for four detached houses was approved but as no work had been carried out on the site the permission had lapsed.

Councillors on Stroud District Council’s development control committee voted to grant permission for one detached house and two pairs of semi-detached houses with 10 parking spaces, but had several reservations.

Committee member David Drew said: "This to me is planning by attrition, they keep coming back and back and back and this is a compromise, I don’t see it as being an improvement. We would not have given permission if we had seen this the first time, but this is what we are left with."

Cllr Dennis Andrewartha said he felt obliged to approve it because he believed they would lose on appeal, which would waste council money.

"There is a great deal of concern about this application in the parish," he said.

"We are in a situation where we are obliged to accept the officer’s advice."

A resident of Summerhayes, who was at the meeting, said he felt it was an unacceptable reason for approving the application.

"I don’t think it is good enough to just say we won’t win on appeal, they have given no reasons for approving it. I am very disappointed."

Mrs Shah said she did not wish to comment, but said she felt the decision was fair.