A bid to build 250 homes in Moreton-in-Marsh has been deferred due to concerns about the infrastructure “just not being there” in the town, writes Leigh Boobyer.

Developer Spitfire Bespoke Homes Ltd wanted to develop land in the south of the market town, off the A412, into a new housing estate.

However Cotswold district councillors believed a decision on the application had to postponed due to a lack of a “holistic strategy” to the development of the town.

The authority’s planning committee agreed by a majority of seven yesterday (October 14) to defer the proposals so it could ask Gloucestershire County Council’s education team for a school strategy.

Between April 2011 and March 2020, a total of 776 new homes were built and 220 are currently in the pipeline.

In a council report, an officer said the town has seen a “significant level of new housing in recent years”, but added that most of the new development was in the east.

Councillor Nikki Ind (Ind, Tetbury East and Rural) said in the meeting: “Moreton still appears to be waiting for the infrastructure to follow from those developments, let alone another one.”

The agent of the applicant, Knight Frank, said in the meeting: “More than £2.9million worth of section 106 contributions would be made towards pre-school and primary education, sustainable transport and public library services.

“In addition to this, an estimated community infrastructure levy payment of £1.6m would contribute to local infrastructure projects such as Chipping Campden Secondary School.”

The land which the homes was proposed on is opposite North Cotswolds Hospital and Fosseway Garden Centre, spanning 15.7 hectares

The district council’s planners recommended the plans were approved but the Campaign To Protect Rural England (CPRE), and Moreton-In-Marsh Town Council and 175 residents had expressed concerns about the number of homes prior to the meeting.

Councillor Dilys Neill (LD, Stow) said in the meeting: “There has not really been an holistic approach to the development of Moreton.

“The frustration that people are feeling, the town council and councillor Webster, is that it would be nice to see a holistic approach.

“In my point of view, in my adjacent ward the highways effect could cause knockback as far as Stow. People from my ward use that road on a regular basis, and I know how difficult it is to get through Moreton at certain times.

“The infrastructure is not there. Although there is a lot of talk about it, it just is not there. While there is a lot of development going on, there will be problems undoubtedly.”

Councillor Clive Webster (LD), who represents the Moreton West ward, said in the meeting: “There is no land identified [for education]. There is not even the start of a process to identify land to build a school to mitigate the harm.

“I feel it is irresponsible for us to approve an application when we know that there is no plan to mitigate the harm, and to deliver the infrastructure necessary that has been identified throughout the report.

“The only option we have is to defer this until we have a pre-school and primary school education delivery strategy.

“I am not asking for the schools to be built, but a strategy we can believe in that can deliver the necessary mitigations against this development.”

A council officer warned members that trying to deliver a strategy for education “might take some months or years because of we know how the county council work.”

They continued: “We may find ourselves in a situation where we may get an appeal against non-determination for the application.

“The decision may ultimately be taken out of your hands if that does happen.”

According to a council report, several attempts to build on the land have taken place since 1973 but have fallen through, including a proposal to build a new supermarket in 2013 and 150 homes in 2017.

The 250 homes are being proposed to be built in a phased manner, with the first seeing 146 developed.

The proposed housing mix would be 30 one-bed homes, 69 two-beds, 115 three-beds, 32 four-beds and four five-beds.

A new access point will be created for pedestrians and cyclists on the north western corner of the site, opening onto the A429 at a point opposite Aldi.