VIDEO: Crowd gathers in Cirencester Market Place to protest against proposed 2,350-home development

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 8,400 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.

Councillors Ray Brassington, Jenny Hincks and Roly Hughes, with Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Andrew Gant

CDC is led by the Cotswold Conservatives, though all three barred councillors are Liberal Democrats.

The trio were present at the protest, as were Cotswold parliamentary candidates Andrew Gant (Lib Dems) and Chris Harlow (UKIP), which saw a show of thumbs down at midday.

Addressing the crowd, Cllr Hughes said: “We are extremely frustrated as we’re not able to represent our constituents, who elected us to make decisions on their behalf on this planning application which is the biggest the area has ever seen and is likely to see.

“This decision means that over 6,000 local residents are being disenfranchised as their local councillors are unable to vote on their behalf.

“This decision feels deeply undemocratic,” he added.

He went on to say, whilst normal rules prevent a ward member voting on a planning application in their own ward, “surely the very fact that the application is being decided by the full council, instead of the planning committee, means that normal rules aren’t at play here”.

Chris Harlow, parliamentary candidate for the Cotswolds, representing UKIP, said the development has come about “to accommodate a much greater population due to immigration”.

“We are the only party who is opposed to that continued immigration,” he said.

Andrew Gant, candidate for the Lib Dems, called the development “too big” but said he was “not against the principle of more houses”.

“It’s the wrong kind of development, there should be more social housing, more affordable housing,” he said.

“There should be housing that meets the needs of young people in Cirencester who have grown up here and want to stay here. And the district council should be using its planning policies to meet the needs of residents.

“By not having a Local Plan, it’s failed to do that,” he added.

The Local Plan is expected to have been submitted before councillors vote on the Chesterton scheme later in the year.