Homes target 'risks changing the character of the Cotswolds'

A controversial housing target set by the government is at risk of "changing the character of the Cotswolds," says a local MP.

Cotswold District Council's housing target has been more than doubled from 500 to more than 1,000 a year.

The plans have generated significant backlash in affected areas and would lead to an approximate 40% increase on the district's current 44,000 homes over 20 years.

South Cotswolds MP Roz Savage and council leader Mike Evemy met with Minister for Housing, Communities and Local Government Baroness Taylor of Stevenage but said they were told targets were not going to be lowered. The ministry said all areas needed to to "play their part" in tackling the housing crisis.

Cotswold District Council has been tasked with finding land for between 18,650 and 18,900 homes to be built over the next 20 years.

Draft proposals for the plans will see 90% of the homes built in 10 strategic sites and deliver major expansions to existing towns and villages, as well as the creation of new settlements.

As more than 80% of the local authority area lies within the Cotswolds National Landscape, planners have suggested that most new development must go into the remaining 20%.

However, 4% of this includes flood plains and therefore cannot be built on.

Council leader Evemy, who joined Savage for her meeting with Baroness Taylor, said that "although the minister was polite and listened to the points Roz and I made, she wasn't prepared to consider lowering the government's housing target, which is forcing us to plan for many more homes than the district can reasonably accommodate".

Savage said that she was "disappointed" in the outcome of the meeting.

"My constituents have made it clear that 18,000 new homes is too many for a district where 4/5 of the land is protected landscape, and I took that message directly to the minister," she said.

"Nobody here is arguing against new homes. We urgently need homes that local families, young people and key workers can actually afford."

She added: "Building on this scale, squeezing into a fifth of the district, without the roads, GP appointments, school places and sewage capacity to support it, risks changing the character of the Cotswolds without giving local people the homes they need."

Savage also noted that in Down Ampney, residents had previously experienced issues with sewage being dumped by Thames Water into Ampney Brook, yet the "village could continue to grow fivefold".

"The concerns residents raise with me are credible and deserve to be taken seriously," Savage added.

"The minister agreed that housing growth must not outrun water infrastructure, and I will hold the government to that".

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said that every area was expected to play its part in tackling the housing crisis.

"We're building more homes in the places where they are least affordable to tackle the housing crisis," they said.

"To meet this challenge we need all areas, including the Cotswold District, to play their part and ensure we build the homes communities need - supported by the right level of infrastructure and services.

"We're strongly safeguarding our green belt and national landscapes, with our rules ensuring councils prioritise brownfield and other low-quality grey belt land".

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