The first phase of the massive 4,000 home Elms Park development is due to go before councillors tomorrow.

Persimmon Homes has submitted a planning application for 266 properties off Manor Road in Cheltenham and they have been recommended for approval by officers.

If they are given the go ahead, developers will be able to break ground on the massive new housing estate.

Cheltenham Borough Council planning committee is due to discuss the application, dubbed Swindon Farm, at a meeting tomorrow night (March 23).

There have been 28 objections to the plans which would see the 20 acres of open fields transformed into hundreds of homes with a new vehicular and pedestrian access off Manor Road.

Save The Countryside said the application does not demonstrate adequate sustainability as there is no clear energy policy statement and the transport proposals are "unworkable".

It said: "​This is the first phase of the largest ever new development on previously green belt land, so it should be used as a national example for UK planning. It should not harm the environment or existing community."

Others said the scheme would cause chaos on local roads, existing schools to be oversubscribed and change the character of Swindon Village.

Russell Griffin, managing director for Persimmon Homes South Midlands, said in a letter to the council: "Members should support the proposed development at Swindow Farm in advance of the Elms Park scheme as it is policy compliant;designed to facilitate development of the wider Elms Park site; not subject to any objections from statutory consultees; and amounts to sustainable development."

Revised outline proposals for Elms Park (16/02000/OUT), made jointly by Persimmon Homes and Bloor Homes, were submitted in May 2022. They include around 4,115 new 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 claim it would play a crucial role in the region's future growth with an estimated £1billion invested into the construction sector over a 10 to 15-year period. Once complete, they said Elms Park would generate more than 5,000 full time equivalent job opportunities, generating annual incomes in excess of £210million per year.

Council officers said in their report on the Swindown Farm application: "In carrying out an objective assessment of the proposals officers have had to balance any potential adverse impacts of the proposals on the character of the site and wider locality, any implications associated with the delivery of the wider Elms Park development, the amenities of neighbouring land users and highway safety implications, against the positive contribution the proposal would make towards HLS and any wider economic or social benefits that the scheme might bring.

"In this regard, the contribution of 173 market and 93 affordable dwellings towards meeting the

Council's identified housing needs weighs heavily in favour of the proposals."

They have recommended the committee permit the plans.

The Swindown Farm planning application 20/00759/FUL and Elms Park outline planning 16/02000/OUT can both be viewed on Cheltenham Borough Council's website.