THE proposed development in Chesterton is of concern to many people.

I accept that housing is needed. There is a huge gap in affordability between the average salary and the average house price in the Cotswolds - and especially so for younger people.

Cirencester has to take a share of new housing but it must be a fair share. The suggested figure of 2,500 homes is way over a fair distribution around the district. The fact is that it is easier for the council to solve its problems by dumping a massive estate in one place.

The proposal is too big. It needs to be reduced. How? By sharing out small scale developments around the area.

Villages have in some cases asked for small developments to provide affordable housing and have been told they are not ‘sustainable’ but if those villages which want development don’t get it how do they retain services, attract young people and families? Communities which want such development must be allowed to do so and this should form part of the Local Plan. Brownfield sites must also take priority rather than usable farmland.

Cirencester also needs better infrastructure. The sewage system is creaking – woe betide another wet winter and the inevitable flooding that will bring. It needs improvement and that improvement is terribly slow in coming. Also the lack of buses which run all day and evening, cycle lanes and properly maintained roads. These are essential pre requisites to more housing.

If thousands more people are housed in the town where do they work? Many will commute to Swindon, Oxford, Bristol and Cheltenham and Gloucester. Where is Cotswold District Council’s strategy for encouraging jobs and new businesses in the town? It needs one urgently.

I want the council to really listen to people who are concerned about this proposal. The Chesterton development cannot be a done deal.

CLLR PAUL HODGKINSON

Prospective MP for the Cotswolds (Lib Dem)

Perrotts Brooke