Work has started on Swindon Farm- the first phase of the huge 4,115-home Elms Park development.

Diggers are rolling at the site on the edge of Cheltenham and it is expected to take five years to build the 266 home estate.

The first job is creating a temporary vehicle access road close to the Dreams store and the junction of MacKenzie Way. It will be in place for 12 months to allow construction vehicles to access the site.

Signs at the site state Manor Road will be closed until the end of August while this work takes place but businesses in MacKenzie Way are open as usual.

Last week further construction details for the huge project were signed off by the council.

Developer Persimmon Homes was granted approval by Cheltenham Borough Council for plans which include particulars on how the HGVs and waste will be managed at the site over the coming years.

Swindon Farm is expected to help set the tone for the wider Elms Park development next to J10 of the M5.

Proposals for the 251 hectares (620 acre) of countryside have been in the works for years but are now bogged down in the planning process.

If it goes ahead, Elms Park would see the largest ever swathe of greenbelt land in the UK transformed into a new town on the outskirts of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury.

A revised outline masterplan, made jointly by Persimmon Homes and Bloor Homes, was submitted in May 2022 and expected to go before councillors from both boroughs last summer.

Punchline has learned this week that the cross-boundary application is still in pre-determination negotiations and the decision date is to be pushed back for the third time.

It was already extended in December and May but developers and council bosses have still not finished wrangling over highways details.

Chris Gomm, head of development, management, enforcement and compliance at Cheltenham Borough Council, said: "We are still working with the applicants and the highway authorities to resolve a number of matters on the application, primarily relating to impacts on the highways network.

"A new extension for determining the application will be agreed and we are aiming to take the planning applications to both Tewkesbury and Cheltenham planning committees towards the end of this year."

The application has garnered more than 100 comments from residents and this along with its size means it will be debated and decided at a public planning meeting.

If it gets the nod Elms Park will include thousands of homes, a 25-acre office park, 32 acres of land for retail, healthcare and community facilities, a new secondary school and two new primary schools.

Developers estimated it would see £1billion invested into the construction sector over a 15-year period and the generation of more than 5,000 full time equivalent job opportunities.

In November 2023 Gloucestershire County Council agreed to sell off a huge chunk of public land  which forms a large part of the Elms Park site.

Meanwhile work on Swindon Farm also appears to be lagging behind schedule as the plans approved on Tuesday (July 23) show it was originally expected to start in March 2024.

It was green-lit by Cheltenham Borough Councillors in March 2023 despite concerns about the strain on the roads and schools.

It will see 20 acres of open fields transformed into hundreds of homes with a new vehicular and pedestrian access off Manor Road.

Persimmon has now discharged 10 conditions related to that permission which cover details including management of the construction vehicles, dust from the site, foul water drainage, site contamination investigation, archaeological works, arboricultural method statement, tree protection measures, a badger survey and landscaping.

They state construction traffic will travel to and from the site via the M5 J10, A4019 and A40/A4013 and enter the site via a temporary access on Manor Road for at least the first year.

After that a new roundabout that will be built on Manor Road will be used. It is expected to take up to early 2025 to complete.

Swindon Village, including Church Road, Quatt Goose Lane, Dark Lane and Brockhampton will be off limits to HGVs and site vehicles.

Vehicles will have their wheels cleaned with jet washers before leaving the site and access roads will be swept regularly to help avoid mud, slurry and other pollutants being deposited on the public highway,

Haul lorries will be sheeted to prevent mud falling on the roads and dust suppression techniques will be used to prevent it polluting the local air, with dust monitoring carried out daily.

Work at the site will be allowed from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday , 8am to 1pm on Saturdays with no working on Sundays or public/bank holidays.

A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said: "The works are underway. Primarily we needed to gain approval to the site access, otherwise we would have been restricted to working from a temporary access and would not have been able to occupy the plots.

"We are delighted to have commenced work on this development, which is part of a much wider scheme that will bring much-needed housing along with affordable housing to the area."