THE chairman of a campaign group fighting against plans to build 2,350 homes in Cirencester has voiced his support for a potential protest in the Market Place next month.

Resident Sara Radway last week called for townspeople to protest the controversial plans as well as the decision to bar three ward members from voting on the application, on Friday, May 12.

Having seen Ms Radway’s letter in the Standard last week, Save Our Cirencester (SOC) chairman Mark Pratley has said he will be attending the protest.

Bathurst Development Limited's (BDL) proposal for land near Chesterton has been included in the district’s emerging Local Plan, which sets out where around 7,500 homes will be built in the district by 2031.

At the end of last year, Cotswold District Council (CDC) announced that the application would be decided by the full council rather than the planning committee, due to the significance of the development.

However, as per CDC rules, councillors cannot vote on applications in their own wards, meaning Roly Hughes (Chesterton), Jenny Hincks (Watermoor) and Ray Brassington (Four Acres) will be barred from voting.

A recent Private Eye article also highlighted SOC's concerns that at least eight CDC Conservative councillors may have conflicts of interest due to working in real estate or having connections with Lord Bathurst.

“I fully support Sara Radway in her proposal that everyone gathers in the Market Place to make very clear, by a show of thumbs down, how we feel,” said Mr Pratley.

He said Cirencester residents had been “disenfranchised by CDC’s vote barring three Cirencester councillors” while the protest would also serve as further opposition to the proposed development itself.

“I will not be attending in my capacity as chairman of SOC as I have no wish that we hi-jack the event,” he said.

“However, I will attend as a resident of this town, who is deeply concerned about what is going on.

“Sara has come up with a simple way in which we can all show our disgust over the whole issue.”

He said the development will have a “catastrophic effect” on Cirencester and surrounding villages.

Speaking at the annual town meeting earlier this month, town councilor Stuart Tarr reiterated that “the town council has listened and is still listening” to residents’ “views and concerns”.

The town council submitted its final response to CDC regarding the outline planning application in January, recommending the local plan be adopted before the application is considered further.

Cllr Tarr said it is expected that the application will be brought before CDC “towards the end of June or maybe early July”.

“That is likely to be the same time that the draft local plan will be submitted to the secretary of state to test its soundness before the next stage which will be examination in public,” he said.

“These two things, the Chesterton application and the local plan, which is very strongly predicated on the Chesterton application, are very likely to precede in parallel, which is helpful for the town council's position that we have recommended in January,” he added.

  • The Standard has approached CDC for a response to the recent Private Eye article regarding the Bathurst Development Ltd application

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

A screenshot of the article from Private Eye