Tetbury named one of the South West’s best places to live (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Tetbury named one of the South West’s best places to live in the Sunday Times

12:46pm Friday 22nd March 2013 in News By Ian Craig

TETBURY has been named one of the best places to live in the South West.

The Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide ranked the Cotswold town – home to Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall – 12th in the list, which also included Thornbury in South Gloucestershire and Oddington in Oxfordshire.

At Monday’s meeting of the town council, deputy mayor Dr Tony Walsh welcomed the news.

"It just confirms everything I’ve always known," he said.

"Tetbury has got a lot to offer – it’s a very welcoming community to tourists and people moving to the town.

"But its main attraction is its wonderful population."

Newly elected town councillor Keith Leaver echoed Dr Walsh’s words.

"I went to a tourist meeting recently and a lot of people there were whingeing about various things," he said.

"I think they ought to be proud to live here."

However, the face of the town could be set to change in coming years with a series of recent planning decisions giving the go-ahead to more than 500 homes in and around the parish.

The Sunday Times guide takes into account elements including natural beauty and cultural life along with transport links, quality of schools and crime rates.

Wadebridge in Cornwall topped the list, followed by Topsham in Exeter and Totnes in Devon.

The first part of the guide appeared in the national paper’s Home supplement last week, with the second to appear this week.

Chris Dee, tourism manager at Gloucestershire First – an organisation promoting business and tourism throughout the county – welcomed the news. "Tetbury is one of the jewels in the crown of the Cotswolds," he said. "I think a lot of people fantasise about living in the Cotswolds and I think this will add to it.

"It just makes the Cotswolds and Gloucestershire all the more desirable."