CINDERFORD'S long-awaited regeneration scheme should move a step closer this week.

Forest of Dean District Council's cabinet is likely to approve the Cinderford Area Action Plan, the scheme's blueprint, on Thursday.

It follows months of public consultations on the plans and the recent formal approval of them by a government planning inspector.

The next stage, after Thursday, will be for the plan to be formally adopted by the council in full.

The regeneration scheme is concentrated mainly on developing the town's Northern Quarter, with new homes, businesses and the relocation of Gloucestershire College's Forest of Dean campus there. Further improvements will follow in the town centre too. The scheme is funded mainly by the Homes and Communities Agency.