Tewkesbury Borough Council's Planning Committee looks set to approve plans for 126 new homes today (July 16).

The council is recommending approval of the plans for 75 open market homes and 51 affordable homes on the outskirts of Stoke Orchard. Proposals include the demolition of an existing property and agricultural buildings on the 6.4 hectare site.

Stoke Orchard is one of twelve designated Service Villages named in Gloucestershire's Joint Core Strategy (JCS) and the Tewkesbury Borough Local Plan (TBLP). The site is located just outside the settlement boundary of Stoke Orchard, as defined by the TBLP.

With Tewkesbury borough currently affected by a shortfall in its five-year supply of deliverable housing sites, the benefits of the scheme are seen by the council to outweigh any potential harms.

Stoke Orchard Parish Council supports the plans, but there were 24 objections from local people, relating to a range of issues including increased traffic and road safety concerns, loss of village character, impact on privacy, impact on wildlife and impact on overstretched local services.

The development includes more than two hectares of on-site public open space, as well as a play area for young children. The developer has also proposed contributions of £43,050 for multi-use games area (MUGA) improvements and £118,900 for the existing community centre, village shop and play area.

Until 2011, Stoke Orchard consisted of just 93 homes. Since then, 236 new homes have been built, with the majority on the former CRE site in the village. The CRE development also brought a shop, community hall and recreation facilities to Stoke Orchard.

Council officers said that the proposed new development would help keep these local facilities, along with the bus service connecting the village with Tewkesbury and Bishop's Cleeve, viable.

Officers concluded: "Whilst the proposed development would increase the population of the village, it is not considered that this would have an adverse cumulative impact on the settlement, taking into account that the previous developments have become an established part of its community.

"The proposal could support the viability of existing local services and facilities, thus potentially securing their retention in the long term, and would provide affordable housing, green infrastructure and active travel opportunities that would also benefit the existing community."