COTSWOLD District Council’s (CDC) Local Plan is falling behind schedule, meaning it is still ‘open season’ for developers, a councillor has warned.

The plan sets out how the district uses land but the last one ran out in 2011 and CDC had hoped to complete the document this year. However, in response to a question from CDC Lib Dem leader Cllr Joe Harris, it was revealed the plan would not be submitted until next year.

Without a Local Plan outlining where houses should be built, developers are more likely to be successful when appealing to central government if their plans are refused by CDC’s planning department.

It means land such as the Humpty Dumps in Cirencester, which residents have been fighting to save from development, is easier for developers to build on.

If a Local Plan is not in place by early 2017 the Cotswolds may be in danger of having one imposed on them by the government.

“It simply isn’t acceptable that we are still waiting for the Local Plan to be submitted. Two years ago Cllr Nick Parsons reassured us that the plan would be ready for submission in early 2015 and this seemed to be the position up until the recent elections,” Cllr Harris told the Standard.

“The current situation means that it continues to be open season for developers. The Conservatives should back their confidence in the emerging Local Plan by submitting it now. Even if the secretary of state bounces it back for more work, precedent shows us that it would hold much more weight than at present.”

A CDC spokesman said that the Plan would be ready for the next round of public consultation by next Spring with a view to sending it to the Secretary of State for approval later in the year.

“Delivering a new Plan involves a considerable amount of complex work and analysis and public consultation,” the spokesman added.

“Furthermore, it would not be possible to submit a version of the Plan for approval now as the current document needs to be subjected to further public consultation – including the underlying development management policies which residents will be asked to comment on next month.

“Until we have completed these and other formal procedures we will not have met the necessary statutory requirements, and it is inevitable that the Secretary of State would not approve our Plan.”

Cllr Harris added that communities across the Cotswolds were waiting for CDC to respond to the 'Regulation 18' consultation that ended in February. The Town and Country Planning Act 2012 requires authorities to take into account any representation made to them in response to a local plan consultation.

He said: “Many people have big concerns about the amount of houses allocated for Cirencester and this appears to have fallen on deaf ears.”