Cotswold housing plan needs support from locals

Cotswold District Council has voted to progress a new Local Plan for the area.

With 19,000 new homes potentially being built over the next 17 years, the Plan details how this can be done whilst also protecting the landscapes, heritage and character of the Cotswolds.

Plans to build thousands of new homes in the area come in response to ambitious housing targets set by the Government.

Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of Cotswold District Council, said: "The choice is as clear now as it was when we met last summer and agreed how to address the Government’s immensely challenging housing target: plan for growth or allow others to decide for us."

"The housing target is too big. We all agree on that.

But without a Plan, those new houses will come site by site, appeal by appeal, with infrastructure negotiated development by development. That creates a patchwork of estates, not communities."

Members discussed whether the need for new homes should be planned by the Council, alongside new schools, local centres and open spaces, or whether it should be left unplanned, with housing developments coming forward on a piecemeal basis and no guarantee that the necessary infrastructure will be provided.

Cllr Juliet Layton, highlighted how public engagement that had informed the Plan.

She said the Plan responds to what residents had asked for during consultation: “It includes infrastructure alongside development, smaller and more affordable homes, new schools and local centres, protection for landscape and heritage, serious action on flooding and wastewater, improved walking, cycling and public transport, and higher standards of design.

She added: "These are homes for care workers, teaching assistants and young families, not more large houses that are beyond the reach of local people."

Local people are invited to have their say during a six-week consultation running from 24 August to 5 October 2026.

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