DOWN Ampney could be expanded by up to 150 homes following a decision by Cotswold District Council to include the village in its Local Plan.

At its most recent cabinet meeting, members voted in favour of including Down Ampney in the plan as the village has now been identified as a location capable of sustainable development.

Cllr David Fowles (Con, Hampton) questioned the inclusion of the village, by saying that Down Ampney had become “developed out”.

Chris Vickery, forward planning manager at CDC, said the village was once again being added to the list as more potential development sites had become available but insisted that there was no exact number of homes ready to be built.

He said: “We will engage with the local community. Once we’ve got feedback from the communities we will be in a better place to recommend this to the council.”

However, Cllr Fowles protested by saying that the village would not be able to deal with more development.

He said: “This is going to put a lot of houses into a place where, in my opinion, there isn’t a sufficient infrastructure to support them.”

A report, which was presented to the cabinet, read: “The village was only dropped from the Preferred Development Strategy because no sites had come forward at that point.

“It is now appropriate to include Down Ampney as one of the identified locations for sustainable development. Officers feel that a provisional figure of between 50 and 100 dwellings (including housing already committed) would be a reasonable starting position.”

CDC’s Local Plan is a blueprint for the development of 6,900 new homes to be built across the district by 2031.