M5 Junction 10 Improvements Scheme

Need for the scheme

Our proposals will see significant improvements to M5 Junction 10, a new road linking Junction 10 to West Cheltenham and widening of the A4019 Tewkesbury Road.

New housing and employment sites are proposed for development close to Junction 10 on the M5, including the West and North-West Cheltenham developments. To unlock these housing and job opportunities, we need to ensure that there is sufficient highway capacity to accommodate the increased motorised and non-motorised traffic these will generate.

Several of Gloucestershire County Council’s policy documents have identified improvements to M5 Junction 10 as a key component for delivering new housing and improvements sites for development to the west of Cheltenham.

An all movements junction has been identified as a key infrastructure requirement needed to enable the housing and economic development proposed by the Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership's Strategic Economic Plan and is central to the transport network sought by the council in our adopted Gloucestershire Local Transport Plan.

The planned housing and economic growth have been included by Cheltenham Borough, Tewkesbury Borough and Gloucester City Councils in the adopted Joint Core Strategy.

In addition, National Highways has also identified that significant growth planned for this area would require improvements to M5 Junction 10 to maintain the safe and efficient operation of the M5 corridor. We will continue to work closely with National Highways so that the construction of this much-needed improvements scheme works for all road users.

The scheme will be funded through the council’s successful bid to the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), for £249m for the M5 Junction 10 Improvements Scheme.

Objectives of the scheme:

• Support economic growth and facilitate growth in jobs and housing by providing improved transport network connections in West and North-West Cheltenham.
• Enhance the transport network in the West and North-West of Cheltenham area with the resilience to meet current and future needs.
• Improve the connectivity between the Strategic Road Network (SRN) and the local transport network in West and North-West Cheltenham.
• Deliver a package of measures which is in keeping with the local environment, establishes biodiversity net gain and meets climate change requirements.
• Provide safe access to services for the local community and including for users of sustainable transport modes within and to West and North-West Cheltenham.

Scheme background

Statutory consultation

We ran a statutory consultation for 10 weeks from 8 December 2021 until 15 February 2022. The purpose of the consultation was to gather feedback on the three proposed scheme elements: improvements to Junction 10; the West Cheltenham Link Road (including Withybridge Lane); and widening of the A4019 Tewkesbury Road (including Gallagher Retail Park junction).

The local community and other stakeholders were invited to share their views on the most recent proposals for the scheme via a feedback survey. The council also ran a series of face-to-face and virtual consultation events, where the project team presented the proposed scheme designs and answered questions from attendees.

A total of 579 survey responses were received during the consultation period. 74% of survey respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the proposed improvements to M5 Junction 10.  This is consistent with the results from the non-statutory consultation held in autumn 2020.

In response to the views provided throughout the consultation and the feedback survey, we have made the following changes to our scheme proposals:

• Allowing right turns off the A4019 at the Gallagher Retail Park junction.
• Keeping Withybridge Lane open, understanding that respondents do not want access restricted.
• Extending the segregated footway and cycleway on the A4019 and Junction 10 (within our scheme boundary).
• Rearrangement of proposed new junction locations on the A4019, addressing residents’ concerns around safety and access.
• Keeping access open for people and livestock under the River Chelt bridge.

Options consultation

Prior to the statutory consultation, we undertook an options consultation in autumn 2020. The purpose was to gather feedback on the options for the M5 Junction 10 Improvements Scheme. The majority of participants (84%) agreed that there was a clear need for the scheme. The preferred public option was Option 2. This involves upgrading the existing junction with a grade separated roundabout centred on the existing junction. On 16 June 2021, we published our preferred route announcement (PRA) stating that we were progressing with Option 2.

For more information on both the statutory and options consultation and the preferred route announcement, please see the relevant documents in the Further Information section to the right of this page.

Next steps

In order to ensure we meet the current and future needs of local residents, businesses and commuters, it is critical that we listen to your views. The feedback we have received during the options consultation and the statutory consultation has helped shape our final design proposals.

This scheme is categorised as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. As such we are required to make an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to obtain planning permission to construct the scheme, rather than the traditional route of applying for planning permission, under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, from the local planning authorities. Find out more about this process.

The Planning Inspectorate will then consider the application and, if they approve it, make a recommendation to the Secretary of State under Section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 to seek authorisation to build the scheme. The DCO application is planned for submission to the Planning Inspectorate in early 2023.

Further information

All updates, including progress of our scheme, will be provided on this webpage. You can also follow us on our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts or sign up for email alerts using the link on the right of this page.

Arle Court Transport Hub and Coombe Hill Junction

An upgrade to Arle Court Park and Ride (now referred to as Arle Court Transport Hub) and improvements at the A38/A4019 Coombe Hill Junction were also included as part of the package of improvements funded by Homes England. We have decided to take these elements forward separately in order to accelerate their delivery. Find out more about the Arle Court Transport Hub proposals and the A38/A4019 Coombe Hill Junction proposals.