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Cotswold District Local Plan draft is open for public consultation

CDCdraftlocalplanCotswold District Council has prepared a Local Plan Submission Draft which is open to public consultation until the 8th August 2016.

This is the Council’s sixth public consultation on the emerging Plan and represents the last opportunity to challenge its soundness and specifically highlight sites that should be allocated for development, before it is sent to the Planning Inspectorate for assessment.

What does Cotswold District Council’s Local Plan cover?

This Local Plan relates to the whole District and provides a strategy for delivering growth for Cotswold District for the period up to 2031. The document sets out the vision, objectives, strategic policies, development management policies and site specific allocations for delivering new homes, jobs, services, facilities and infrastructure.

Proposed development strategy for the district:

As part of the Draft Submission a development strategy for the district has been proposed, some of the key points are listed below:

  • The May 2016 OAN suggests a need for 8,400 dwellings over the 20 year plan period – an average of 420 per year.
  • The following Principal Settlements have been identified as suitable for the delivery of the required housing: Cirencester, Andoversford, Blockley, Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping Campden, Down Ampney, Fairford, Kemble, Lechlade, Mickleton, Moreton-in-Marsh, Northleach, South Cerney, Stow-on-the-Wold, Tetbury, Upper Rissington,
  • To encourage employment growth it is proposed to plan for in excess of 24 hectares of B Class employment land over the plan period. The Principal Settlements identified to assist with this are: Cirencester, Bourton-on-the-Water, Chipping Campden, Lechlade, Moreton-in-Marsh, Tetbury,
  • According to projected need and current supply, Cotswold District Council anticipate that they can demonstrate 7.54 years of housing land supply. Although this is not a maximum figure.

Next steps:

Cotswold District Council are seeking representations on the draft submission on the following points:

  • Whether the Local Plan is considered sound;
  • What changes are sought and why such changes would help make the Local Plan sound.

The consultation will run from 27th June to 8th August 2016. This represents the last opportunity in which to challenge the soundness of the draft Local Plan and specifically highlight sites that should be allocated for development.

Representations made on the Submission Draft Local Plan will then be forwarded to the Planning Inspectorate who will appoint an inspector to undertake an examination to test the ‘soundness’ of the Plan.

If you have land in this area that you feel may be suitable for development and would like to explore how best to move forward, then contact our land promotion team over at Context Land on: 01242 501003 or via info@context.land. You can also read more about the Draft Submission here.