Fears Forest of Dean towns and villages ‘becoming commuter dormitories’
There are concerns Forest of Dean towns and villages are becoming ‘commuter dormitories’ as house prices have risen and traffic congestion worsened in the years after the removal of the tolls on the Severn crossings.
Civic chiefs say the area has seen an “influx of Bristolians” who have taken advantage of the lower house prices and are relocating to the area to then commute to the city for work.
The average house price in Bristol was £353,000 in December, according to Office for National Statistics figures, while in the Forest it was £299,000.
And after the removal of the Severn tolls in 2018, cheaper housing in the Forest has become an attractive option for many.
But motorists commuting out of the district are contributing to traffic issues on the A48 and A40.
And this is something that concerns council leaders who would like to see economic growth in the Forest of Dean reverse that trend.
However, the authority’s new local plan, which will allocate where development should take place over the next 20 years, will lead to more commuting out of the area, critics suggest.
The draft blueprint suggests 1,700 new homes will be built in the Severnside town between now and 2041 while 600 homes are planned for Beachley Barracks near Chepstow with the Tutshill and Sedbury area would see around 410 more dwellings.
In the north of the district, there are plans for a new town of 3,500 homes next to junction 2 of the M50 at Glynchbrook and 2,000 homes off the A40 in Churcham near Gloucester.
Councillor Alan Preest (R), who represents Lydney East at the Forest of Dean District Council, is among those who have seen the change and he is concerned about the impact extra housing has had on local services.
“Few would argue that an influx of Bristolians in the last few years have made their home in Lydney, and who can blame them with lower house prices, no Severn Bridge tolls and a reasonably easy, albeit congested route through Chepstow back to employment in the Bristol area,” he said.
“However, I would argue that more could and should have been done to incentivise those with local connections particularly younger people to occupy more affordable housing on the housing sprawl around Lydney.
“Those that have moved into Lydney have quickly realised that what appears as a rural setting fundamentally lacks much basic infrastructure and primary school places.”
He also said the area suffers from “highway inadequacies” and the town lost its hospital in May 2024.
“Oakdale is an isolated ‘out of town’ large estate with no complementary services, such as shopping, with a sporadic bus service and no safe direct walking passage to Lydney railway station and the industrial estate,” he added.
“An empty eyesore of an industrial estate accompanies Oakdale, opportunities for an Asda or Aldi, the latter with small industrial units were ludicrously missed, turned down by the Forest of Dean planning system. Much local employment would have been created.”
While Drybook and Lydbrook County Councillor Piers Camp (R) believes the district needs planning that “puts Foresters first, not big-city culture imposed from afar”.
“It’s not about hating newcomers – many move here for the peace and space we cherish – but forced mass development to accommodate endless urban overflow threatens to turn our villages into commuter dormitories, pricing out young local families and overwhelming our GPs, schools, and roads,” he said.
District Council leader Adrian Birch (G, Tidenham) said he expects many people from the new estates in Lydney commute to Bristol by car which only exacerbates the peak road traffic in Chepstow.
He believes a new transport hub in the south of the Forest is needed to ease congestion.
“We are conducting a traffic survey as part of the local plan supporting evidence base and we may get a more accurate figure regarding this later in the year,” he said.
“Clearly any new development in the south of the Forest will influence house prices and exacerbate peak hour traffic.
“We would like to see a transport hub in the south of the district to encourage people to use rail transport to get to Bristol, Newport and Cardiff.
“Ideally, we would like to see a replacement or major improvements to the Severn Tunnel with direct access from the Forest rather than having to change at Severn tunnel Junction which acts as a disincentive for commuting by rail as times of trains don’t often align.”