CALLS have been made for a public inquiry into the controversial purchase of the Five Acres site in Berry Hill.

Fourteen people have made written requests to the Forest of Dean District Council that an inquiry should be held after Homes England decided to withdraw their offer to sell the former Gloucestershire College site for a pound.

Homes England and the district council held a meeting back in October 2017 where it was agreed that the Government organisation would transfer ownership of the site to the authority.

The district council agreed to buy it for a pound at their full meeting in October last year with the aim of turning Five Acres into a destination leisure complex.

However, a final decision on the deal had to be given by the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, James Brokenshire MP.

Homes England submitted a request to him last year but, after months of silence, they decided, at the start of last month, to withdraw the request.

There has been anger from different fronts since to the extent now where there are calls for a public inquiry.

The council’s cabinet met with Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper on July 5 to ask him to intervene and liaise between them in order to get the sale moving.

And tomorrow, the council’s Strategic Overview and Scrutiny committee will discuss what can be done to unblock the situation which they are keen to do after approving to spend £150,000 on technical and business studies for Five Acres.