M5: Gloucestershire
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the importance of the upgrade to junction 10 of the M5 to the Cheltenham Tewkesbury and Gloucester Strategic Local Plan.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
The deliverability of local plans, including in relation to the provision of essential infrastructure, is tested by Inspectors during local plan examinations. It will be for the inspectors to determine the importance of different infrastructure required to deliver the plan.
In my letter to the Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate on 9 October 2025, which can be found on gov.uk here, I stressed the importance of Inspectors approaching examinations of plans prepared in the current plan-making system with the appropriate degree of flexibility. Expectations around the evidencing of whether the legal and soundness tests have been met should be proportionate to the context in which plans in the existing system are being prepared.
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