MP warns housing target risks changing the character of the Cotswolds
Government has not lowered the target after talks with the housing minister
A housing target of up to 18,900 new homes in the Cotswolds is not being lowered, according to the area's MP and the leader of the district council.
South Cotswolds MP Dr Roz Savage and Cotswold District Council leader Cllr Mike Evemy have been calling on the Government to reduce the figure.
Cllr Evemy is a Liberal Democrat who represents Siddington and Cerney Rural.
They met Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, the minister for housing and local government, to argue their case.
They said the target still stands.
What is being planned
Cotswold District Council is creating a new blueprint for development after being tasked with finding land for around 18,650 to 18,900 new homes over the next 20 years.
The district's target has more than doubled from under 500 to more than 1,000 homes a year.
Draft proposals would see 90 per cent of this housing built across 10 strategic sites.
They would also deliver major expansions to existing towns and villages, alongside the creation of new settlements.
The proposals are hugely controversial in the affected areas.
They would lead to a roughly 40 per cent increase on the 44,000 homes in the district today.
House prices in the district are around 14 times average earnings.
Since the target changed, the district's five-year housing land supply has dropped from 7.3 years to 1.8 years.
The council believes this has opened the door to speculative applications.
More than 80 per cent of the district lies within the Cotswolds National Landscape.
Planners are therefore suggesting most new development must go into the remaining 20 per cent, of which four per cent includes flood plain and cannot be built on.
What the minister told them
In her written reply and at the meeting, the minister said her quasi-judicial role in the planning system meant she could not comment on the specifics of the Cotswold Local Plan.
She said the Government expects every area to play its part in tackling the housing crisis.
Any case for a lower figure, she said, must be made with evidence to the independent planning inspector when the plan is examined.
Reaction from the MP and council leader
"I'm disappointed," Dr Savage said.
"My constituents have been clear that 18,000 new homes is too many for a district where four-fifths of the land is protected landscape, and I took that message directly to the minister. She listened carefully, but the Government has not moved on the number.
"Nobody here is arguing against new homes. We urgently need homes that local families, young people and key workers can actually afford.
"Building on this scale, squeezed 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.
"In Down Ampney, Thames Water is already discharging sewage into Ampney Brook, yet the village could grow fivefold. The concerns residents raise with me are credible and deserve to be taken seriously.
"There were some encouraging signs. The minister agreed that housing growth must not outrun water infrastructure, and I will hold the Government to that."
Cllr Evemy said it was good to finally meet with a minister after three previous requests to meet with one.
"However, while the minister was polite and listened to the points that 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," he said.
Government response
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said the Government is strongly safeguarding green belt and national landscapes while ensuring councils prioritise other land.
"We're building more homes in the places where they are least affordable to tackle the housing crisis," a spokesperson said.
"To meet that challenge we need all areas, including 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."