A CIRENCESTER councillor has slammed proposals to convert one of the town’s former social clubs into a new industrial estate.

Cllr Margaret Rickman (Lib Dem, Chesterton) hit out at a recent survey which found that the site of the Social and Services Club in Chesterton, which closed down last month, could be used for industrial buildings or houses in the near future.

Speaking at a meeting of Cirencester Town Council on Tuesday, March 11, she said that bringing industrial units to that area would “spoil” nearby housing.

“That area is not a pleasant place to live. We would be making it worse by bringing industry into the area,” she said.

As part of a community-lead initiative, the Social and Services Club was one of eight locations in Cirencester that could be converted into housing as part of the district-wide Local Plan.

However, a report of the project’s findings said that it could be used for industrial purposes as it is “on the border of an industrial estate”.

Cllr Rickman said: “Did anybody not think about using the word ‘retail’? It is not just industry that could go in that space.”

Hannah Sturman, project and management support officer at CTC, who was in charge of the project, said that the group which analysed the site did not think the site was cut out for retail purposes.

A proposal to eliminate the site from being converted into an industrial estate was put forward by Cllr Rickman and voted through by the council’s other members.

For more information on the Local Plan, visit www.cotswold.gov.uk.