Cotswold town fears over 2,135 homes as people 'woke up' to maps showing road 'carved through gardens'

Summary

Plans for 2,135 homes in a picturesque Cotswold town have sparked serious concerns as people “woke up” to maps on social media showing a planned bypass “carved through their back gardens”. A new blueprint for development in the Cotswolds has been put forward by the district council’s Liberal Democrat leadership. The draft local plan aims to allocate land for 18,900 homes to be built by 2043.

Details

Cotswold District Council leader Mike Evemy (LD, Siddington and Cerney Rural) said the plan is “absolutely vital” to stop speculative development and start building not just houses but sustainable, healthy communities. Most of the development will take place outside the national landscape with 90 per cent of the housing being proposed in 10 strategic sites.

However, this has caused strong opposition in towns such as Moreton-in-Marsh where residents have been campaigning against overdevelopment for years. The emerging plan identifies around 2,135 extra homes for the market town which currently has a population of around 5,000.

Conservative Councillor Daryl Corps, who represents Moreton West at the district council, is among those with serious concerns over the scale of the development. “Development on that scale would fundamentally alter the size and character of the town,” he said. “Of particular concern is the proposed multi-modal spine road.

The indicative route appears to run from the A429, across the railway and River Evenlode, towards development east of Moreton. “This is not a modest new road.

With a railway and a river to cross, bridges need to be built, drainage and substantial engineering needs to be put in place, it could be a project costing hundreds of millions of pounds.” He said residents are asking whether the road would actually alleviate any of the town’s existing congestion, simply feed and enable the thousands of new homes being proposed.

“Even more troubling is the way some residents have told me that they woke up to maps circulating on social media showing what amounts to a bypass carved through their back gardens, in some cases almost up to their back doors, without any prior consultation,” he said. “That is no way to treat residents whose homes could be profoundly affected.

“There is also zero new employment land allocation to accompany the thousands of new homes. Instead, the Cotswold Business centre risks being penned in by housing, with little or no room to expand. “That is not balanced growth.

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Report source: Gloucestershire Live