Two councils decided today whether Elms Park would get the go-ahead.

Bloor Homes and Persimmon Homes are seeking planning permission for 4,115 new homes on a 215ha site to the west of Cheltenham, including land within both Tewkesbury borough and Cheltenham borough.

At 9:30am today, a special meeting of Tewkesbury Borough Council's Planning Committee gave its decision on the plans, followed by an extraordinary meeting of Cheltenham Borough Council's Planning Committee at 3:30pm. To get the green light, the huge scheme needed the backing of both councils.

Tewkesbury borough councillors voted five to one in favour of the development, while Cheltenham councillors voted unanimously in favour.

Plans also include a 200-bed care home, 24 ha of employment land, a 200-room hotel, primary and secondary schools, retail and community spaces, a transport hub and public transport interchange, new areas of green infrastructure including play areas and a sports hub, woodland planting, allotments and habitat creation, new means of access onto Tewkesbury Road and Manor Road, new footways and cycleways, and energy and drainage infrastructure.

The development will take 20 years to build. It will see the largest ever swathe of greenbelt in the UK transformed into a new town, encompassing land in Swindon Village, Uckington and Elmstone Hardwicke.

At both meetings, Rob Wright, agent for the proposed development, said: "Today's meetings are landmarks 20 years in the making. The principle of development at Elms Park is consistent with the development plan [Joint Core Strategy]. The recommendation for approval is an especially important step in delivering this new community.

"The housebuilders have committed over £10m to get to this point. Their focus being on fulfilling policy requirements and achieving a high-quality place. Elms Park will make a significant contribution to the M5 Junction10 shortfall funding and we've been working closely to ensure compatibility with the scheme."

He added that Elms Park represents a £2.5bn investment in the area.

He continued: "It will contribute £300m a year into the sub-regional economy, creating and supporting over 8,000 new jobs, with 30 apprenticeships a year during construction over 20 years.

"Over 4,000 new homes will be built for a new community of around 9,000 residents, many of whom will already be living in the area. Thirty-five per cent of the homes will be affordable, this will include at least 200 bungalows or ground floor maisonettes.

"Approximately £50m will be spent on providing a new secondary school and two primary schools. Approximately £25m will be spent on community infrastructure, including a six GP health centre."

Paul Instone, principal planning officer, told both committees that the business park and mixed-use neighbourhood centre would be built close to Gallagher Retail Park.

The first phase of development will start close to Tewkesbury Road. Some of the infrastructure, including schools and the GP surgery, will be built in the first phase, along with the first new homes.

Cllr Sarah Hands, chair of Tewkesbury's Planning Committee, said: "This is the biggest thing most of us here have ever had to make a decision on, but it's a blank page in terms of joining everything up. It means you can make sure all that internal infrastructure is in place."

Cllr Matt Dimond-Brown said: "I'm minded that over the last two years, this committee has talked about a whole range of things like affordable housing, sustainable transport, low carbon delivery and flood risk. Today we're just talking about an outline planning permission, and all these issues have now still to be dealt with. There's still quite a lot of heavy lifting to do and a lot of these issues that a lot of people are going to be concerned about in terms of the detail.

"I don't know whether to vote for this or not. The reason I wouldn't vote for it is I'm just worried about the democratic process and the ability for members to continue to have some way of helping officers make the right decisions. The officers are professionals, but the members are the ones who are living in the community and working in the community. I'm not sure if we've got that right to make sure that all these issues we care about are going to be properly dealt with over the next 10 years, especially at a time when local government is about to be reorganised."

Cllr Mary Jordan said: "The principle of development has already been established and what we need to look at is how that development can be delivered in the best possible way.

"By voting against this, we run the risk of it going to appeal and the appeal being won by developers and we lose any input whatsoever to this development. We need to weigh up those options when we think about how we're going to vote."

Addressing Cheltenham Borough Council's Planning Committee, Cllr James Cornish, chair of Swindon Parish Council, expressed disappointment at the lack of communication from the developers, despite parish councillors trying numerous times to communicate.

He said: "We're not here to stop this development, we want to make it a success. We believe our local knowledge can help smooth the development process."

Cllr Flo Clucas, councillor for Swindon Village, who isn't a member of the Planning Committee, said: "I have grave concerns around the reference to Junction 10. This has not been confirmed by government, nor has the £71m been allocated. In this report, developers are being asked for £20m. If agreed, the planning application will allow about 1,000 properties to be built before Junction 10 is finally confirmed. That would treble size of SV and leave inadequate access and egress from the village for those living there.

"For every 1,000 homes, according to government statistics, there are 1,200 vehicles. Current access to the Swindon Farm site [266 homes currently under construction], is from Tewkesbury Road to a new roundabout constructed at the top of Manor Road.

"Manor Road is a small, very thin local road for residents. It's not a major highway. If you've ever been to Swindon Village, you will understand what I'm saying because for the residents it's been a nightmare.

"National Highways and County Highways agree - this application cannot be delivered without severe cumulative impact on the strategic highways network and the local highways network respectively. Agreeing to build the homes without confirmation of Junction 10 cash is not a decision I can support."

Kicking off the debate, Cllr Garth Barnes, chair of the committee, said: "I think it's time we take this application and run with it, whatever our future as a council is going to be. I think this is a way forward and we have to take it."

Cllr Frank Allen, local councillor for Swindon Village, said: "I came to this planning application with no determination whatsoever.

"This application marks the start of a new chapter for Cheltenham. It proposes a huge number of services, which will be of massive benefit to the community. The schools are without a doubt going to be extremely beneficial, but also the GP surgery and the dental suite.

"Traffic is going to be the big sticking point. There are lanes which are not adequate for the number of vehicles we can expect to see, but we really do need this scheme, and we really need Junction 10."

Cllr Glenn Andrews said: "These are houses which can't be built in the centre of Cheltenham or the centre of Gloucester. I can't see anywhere else other than here to build it."

Punchline-Gloucester.com reported yesterday that Gloucestershire Constabulary is taking legal action against the two councils because it says its serious concerns over policing the massive development have been "ignored" by council planners.

A decision on Junction 10 of the M5 from government is expected next week.