CIRENCESTER'S father and son mayoral team have hit out at plans that could swamp the district with housing saying residents are not being given enough time to digest them.

The Cotswold District Local Plan will see 2,660 homes built in Cirencester alone up until 2031 and is currently out for public consultation.

Cllr Mark Harris raised concerns at this month's meeting of Cirencester Town Council’s planning committee, where he said he did not feel a month was long enough to properly scrutinise such a complicated plan and discuss it with residents.

"We’ve got four weeks to feed back into something that will affect us for the next 17 years," he said.

"I would like the opportunity to go to the people in Stratton and Whiteway and explain the situation because it’s not something I can just fire past them."

He added he was concerned it would be difficult to make constructive comments at the next stage of consultation, due to take place in March next year.

"I’ve been told the further down the line we get the more entrenched these things become," he said.

"I would suggest it will be a position of trying to sell something that’s already been built rather than saying 'do we think we need more two or three bedroom houses', for example."

His son, Cirencester mayor Cllr Joe Harris, agreed.

"We’ve got a duty as the town council to get this right," he said. "We need to step up for local people and make sure they are aware as possible."

Committee chairman Cllr Jenny Hincks said it was important everyone, residents and councillors alike, had as much say as possible in the plans.

"The more we feed back into the draft plan the more we will get out of it," she said.

The plans are open for consultation until July 19 and can be seen here or at CDC’s offices in Cirencester or Moreton-in-Marsh.