A proposal has been made by the Gloucestershire Gateway Trust and Westmorland Ltd to build a motorway service area south of Matson. The proposal has generated much media interest and significant local controversy.
In my recent article about the proposed MSA and it’s effects on Matson I highlighted the possible benefits and drawbacks for the local community.
However the MSA will have ramifications for all of Gloucester and indeed some for neighbouring districts. It’s important that the debate continues and I hope that this article will help to highlight some under-discussed issues.
I do not believe that the Gloucestershire Gateway Services represent a real employment opportunity for Gloucester and I have already argued on my earlier article that they offer little for Matson residents.
Whilst 300 jobs is a significant figure for any single community, it pales against the total number of unemployed people in Gloucester. More significant employment is needed in Gloucester. I fully support the ongoing redevelopment of the city centre and docks and believe that Gloucester can utilise it’s attraction to tourists and it’s key position between the Midlands, South West, South Wales and South East to further develop healthy commercial and retail businesses.
Motorway Services at Gloucester neither add nor detract from the attractiveness of the historic core of Gloucester as a tourist destination. However they might encourage traffic to bypass Gloucester and continue to Bristol. In the long term these services may damage Gloucester’s competitiveness.
Short term thinking has been the downfall of Britain over the last half-century. Let’s not make that mistake for Gloucester.
Much has been said of the need for regeneration. For Gloucester as a whole, services to the south of the city do not serve to regenerate the city.
Matson does not need regeneration, it needs development. At present time only one trend is discernible in the area, that of residential infill. Already lacking many services that other areas of Gloucester take for granted – for example, there is no cash point in the estate – Matson is steadily losing any amenities it does have.
Attractive green space afforded by large gardens is being lost to concrete as new houses are tacked on the ends of small terraces. Two pubs within the ward have been lost, The Chequers already demolished and soon to be replaced with houses and The Musket shall shortly meet the same fate.
These are just a few recent examples but the trend is definite and serious. Matson residents will not benefit from a motorway service area that few of us will ever use. What we will benefit from is local development of new small businesses and regeneration in Gloucester itself. The kind of development will help to solve the underlying social and economic problems which trap many Matson residents in poverty.
Furthermore, regeneration of Gloucester itself is naturally to the benefit of all Gloucester’s residents. The MSA endangers this.
At a time when public awareness of environmental issues, and political commitment to reduce the effects of human activity on the environment, it should surely be unthinkable to grant planning permission to such a project. Especially where there is no need for a motorway service area here: 90% of all traffic can make the journey between Strensham and Michaelwood within half an hour.
A motorway service area on this site will cause pollution to watercourses and air, will create noise and light pollution and will heighten the risk of flooding.
The outstanding scenic and landscape qualities in this AONB and designated special landscape area will be forever damaged by the construction of the MSA.
If Gloucester is to market itself as a Gateway to the Cotswolds, then surely the last thing we should do is to despoil a landscape at the very foot of the nearest Cotswold hills.
Time and time again professionals working with impoverished communities have identified ill-health as a major contributing factor to joblessness and deprivation. This is particularly salient when considering the possible effects of additional pollution in the area.
Naturally the negative affects of the MSA, pollution and noise, will be harmful to residents in all local communities and it should be considered on the basis of the need for an MSA, which is something yet to be proven. However it is worth bearing in mind that the prevailing wind will cause the pollution and noise to mainly affect the south of Matson.
Something which most people will probably not consider a major issue is the loss of green space and public rights of way. The south of Gloucester benefits enormously from Robinswood Hill Country Park. However the natural beauty visible from the south side of the hill will be diminished, it’s value as a healthy space for amenity and exercise will be lessened and the quietness of the hill further lost by the development of the land south of Matson. This would apply to any kind of development but an MSA would have a particularly severe effect.
The vast majority of people are unconcerned about the loss of public rights of way, the footpaths across the land. It’s true that we have a dense and robust network of rights of way. However this particular part of Gloucester much less so. The M5 cut through the area 40 years ago and resulted in the permanent loss of easy routes to Brookthorpe and Harescombe. Today only a few footpaths connect Matson and Brookthorpe and just one directly. This footpath passes through the site in question and would almost certainly have to be extinguished to allow the creation of the MSA.
To further reduce amenity space and connections between our communities would be a grave mistake.
At the public meeting held in November 2009, invited politicians unhesitatingly gave their support to CAMSA, ranging from David Drew, MP for Stroud, and his Conservative challenger Neil Carmichael to Gerald Dee, councillor for Tuffley in Gloucester.
The decision ultimately rests in the hands of Stroud District Development Control Committee. I urge you to do your part to make sure that this MSA is declined planning permission.
Alex McKee is an independent political campaigner and candidate for Matson. Keen on improving social justice, local democracy and accountability, he maintains a political blog and works with other local politicians and campaigners to highlight the burning issues in Gloucester’s local politics. He was a founder member of the Gloucester Independents.
This article expresses the views of the author only and does not necessarily represent the views of other Gloucester Independents.
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