Plans for 595 homes on high-quality farmland that were rejected by South Gloucestershire Council should be approved on appeal, a public inquiry heard.
Barrister David Manley KC, representing developers Barwood Development Securities, told the opening day of a two-week planning appeal that the benefits of the proposed scheme, on fields west of Park Farm, Butt Lane, Thornbury, outweighed the harm to heritage assets.
But the council told the hearing that the opposite was true and that consent should not be granted.
