Two new towns could be built in the Forest of Dean
The district council are putting proposals forward to meet government housing targets
Last updated 5th Nov 2025
Two new towns could be built to help meet a Gloucestershire district’s housing target of around 13,200 homes.
District council leaders in the Forest of Dean are due to recommend their strategy for the area’s new blueprint for development.
Their preferred approach for the new local plan, which would be valid until 2045, is for one or two new settlements to be built and housing and employment development to be concentrated in the main towns.
The suggested hybrid strategy would also include modest growth in larger villages and villages.
The revised local plan strategy, which is due to be considered by the Green Party cabinet on November 6, has been met with mixed reactions from the other groups on the authority.
The council’s new housing requirement has increased from 6,600 dwellings over a 20-year plan period to a minimum of 12,000 over a similar period or 13,200 dwellings over the revised 22 year plan period, recently consulted on.
The Independents are opposed to new settlements and Conservatives say the idea has been widely rejected by residents.
Reform UK councillors say the Government’s new housing allocation should be opposed every step of the way.
The Labour group however say they support the construction of new homes and there is an unmet need, particularly for affordable housing, in the Forest.
Labour leader Jacob Sanders (Cinderford West) said he and his party colleagues are “well aware of the unmet need for housing affecting our constituents”.
“We support the building of new homes, with a particular emphasis on affordable new homes, to meet those needs.”
But Conservative group leader Clayton Williams (Hartpury and Redmarley) said if the local plan is approved “the most significant legacy of this Green administration will be turning large parts of our beautiful and unique environment into concrete”.
He said the idea of new towns has been widely rejected by voters as a number of candidates who campaigned against a single settlement have been elected.
“Despite this, the Green administration, with the support of the Labour Government are quite literally ploughing ahead with the option they have always preferred of tearing up green field, prime agricultural land to build two new towns in the District and expand other settlements too. New towns that this report doesn’t even guarantee will have the vital infrastructure needed to support them,” he said.
Progressive Independents leader Julia Gooch (Newent and Taynton) said the new homes target for the Forest of Dean could have been dealt with more appropriately.
Her group believes the previous option of making Lydney the focus of new housing with improved transport links to act as a Forest Gateway should be pursued.
“New settlements, heavily weighted in terms of environmental demands, are a Green Party staple and have been an ego trip for a number of Green Cabinet members for some years,” she said.
“They are using the increased numbers to further steer the position of the council.
“They will not deliver the housing needed, affordable social housing will prove to be unviable, and more rural areas will suffer even more than they currently do.”
However, Council leader Adrian Birch (G, Tidenham) said the district’s housing target has been almost doubled by The Government – something they have appealed against.
And he explained an approved local plan is needed otherwise the council would have limited control over where development happens.
“We know this is a major challenge for a largely rural and environmentally sensitive area like ours,” he said.
He said how the council should move forward will also be discussed by the full council on November 13 as well as cabinet this week.
“These meetings will consider options put forward by the planning team, based on the summer consultation and an assessment of sustainability criteria to determine the most suitable approaches,” he said.
“We have not allocated specific sites yet.
“Any delay in this process would risk missing the programme agreed by members earlier this year, meaning the local plan would not be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in time and approval could be delayed before the council ceases to exist, due to local government reorganisation in 2028.
“Our priority remains to produce a local plan that meets Government requirements in the most sustainable way possible, while reflecting local views and protecting the character of the Forest.”