OVER many months the residents of Cirencester have, understandably, been dismayed at Cotswold District Council’s proposals to locate 2,350 houses on one huge site to the South-West of the town, in addition to another 1,037 houses allocated to other sites in Cirencester.

The total allocation for Cirencester (3,387) is more than 44 per cent of the 7,600 houses planned for the entire Cotswold District! Such a high percentage is neither a proportionate share nor a fair share for a town which has already taken well over its fair share of new housing during previous planning periods.

Residents will now undoubtedly be shocked and angered to read Policy SP3 on page 24 in the Local Plan consultation document. Under the heading ‘Land for new homes’ CDC states the strategic site at Cirencester will take priority over all other sites (whether or not they are allocated in the Local Plan) in the whole of the Cotswold District. Why? No explanation is provided!

Why is the site that is least accessible to main highways being put as the top-priority site to develop within the district? Why is a site on good agricultural farmland being put as the top-priority site?

Why is the one site that prompted so many critical responses in the previous consultation being put as the top-priority site? Why is this site, which is opposed by the town’s own council, CDC’s top-priority development site?

Surveys show that 95 per cent of Cirencester’s population are against the Chesterton Farm proposal as it stands; a quarter of the district’s population live in Cirencester. This equates to nearly 24 per cent of the Cotswolds’ electorate saying that this site is unsuitable, yet it is being given top priority by the six cabinet members at CDC.

So many people are questioning ‘why?’.

The CDC public consultation on the Local Plan is running until Friday, February 27. All Cirencester residents should input their comments.

ANNE GOLICS

Cirencester