Gloucestershire’s planning chief has called for bold action by the new Labour government and wished it godspeed in its efforts to develop the country and grow the economy.

Conservative County Councillor David Gray (Winchcombe and Woodmancote) accepts Gloucestershire is going to get a “good chunk” of the 1.5 million new homes the government wants to see built over the next five years.

And the environment and planning cabinet member at Shire Hall says it is vitally important they follow through on the planned improvements for the M5 junctions 9 and 10 to ensure the new properties are built with the necessary infrastructure.

“We are going to get a good chunk of that housing,” he said.

“It’s then about making sure we have the infrastructure at the same time.

“I wish godspeed to the Labour government or any government that takes on the challenge of dealing with the reluctance of residents to accept we need development.

“We need development but we need to do it in a way that we bring the infrastructure online at the same time.

“We also need to hold the developers to account.

“I saw recently one of them had a 40 per cent margin. I can’t think of many businesses who have such a profit margin.”

He said it is vital that communities which see large developments secure investment in services such as schools, hospitals and public transport.

“Wherever we get the development for housing there is a massive uptick in the underlying value of the land,” he said. “The community needs to capture some of that value and use it to finance the necessary infrastructure.

“The owners and developers can still have fat profits but we avoid the endless housing estates without proper infrastructure.”

Cllr Gray believes past governments of all political colours have been reluctant about joining up housing developments with infrastructure investments for far too long.

“When it comes to the Labour government let’s see whether they follow through.

“Junction 9 and junction 10 will both need to be done and indeed improvements to junction 12.

“It’s not all just about motorways. It’s like our Arle Court transport hub, improving the rail network and increasing the number of services and their regularity as well as having proper bike storage.

“For far too long, whatever party has been in power, we have dodged the need to be much more joined up with developments.”

He said he is keen for Gloucestershire County Council to work with the government to ensure major road and transport projects are delivered quicker than they have been in the past.

“We recognise we are going to get housing and we want to do it in a joined up way with the infrastructure and central government plays a central part in that. Not least in terms of how long it takes to get things done.

“Is junction 9 going to be a ten year process going through the planning process?

“We can’t afford for it to take that time. We need to crack on and get these bottlenecks sorted.”

“We’ve got the A417 missing link coming up but that took 20 years. That’s glacial.”

There was also relief at Shire Hall that major road schemes in the county will not be hit by the government's decision to shelve some infrastructure projects.

Cllr Gray said: “It’s positive that none of Gloucestershire’s plans have been mentioned in the cuts and postponements mentioned by the Chancellor.

“They are not cosmetic schemes – they are important in terms of delivering houses and jobs.”