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Issue - meetings

Local Plan Update Report

 

 

Meeting: 16/07/2025 - Council (Item 33)

33 Local Plan Update Report pdf icon PDF 1 MB

Purpose

To confirm the way forward for the Local Plan Update

 

Recommendation(s)

Subject to the resolutions of Cabinet on 10 July 2025, Council is recommended to:

AGREE to merge the two ongoing Local Plan projects:

1.      the partial update of the adopted Cotswold District Local Plan (2011-2031); and

2.      the Development Strategy and Site Allocations Plan,

into a single comprehensive Full Local Plan Update in conjunction with incorporating work of the Gloucestershire Strategic Plan, where appropriate, with a view to submission in 2026 and adoption in 2027.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The purpose of the report was to confirm the way forward for the Local Plan.

 

The item was introduced by Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of the Council, who noted that in December 2024, the Government had imposed new housing targets on the Cotswold District, increasing the annual requirement from 420 to 1,036 homes. This significant rise had placed the district—80% of which was designated as national landscape and held the highest level of protection—at serious risk. The revised targets reduced the Council’s housing land supply from over seven years to just 1.8 years, undermining the Council’s ability to resist speculative applications on Greenfield sites and weakening the effectiveness of its current local plan.

 

As a result of the changes in housing targets, developers might more easily appeal refused applications, with increased chances of success and heightened financial risk to the Council. Councillor Mike Evemy stated he would be writing to the Deputy Prime Minister to outline the district’s unique circumstances and question whether the new targets were proportionate.

 

The report laid out that the best and only way to respond effectively was to proceed at pace with a full update of the district’s Local Plan, which would strengthen the Council’s position on speculative development, allow for meaningful public consultation, support the delivery of socially rented homes and essential infrastructure, and ensure sustainable, locally guided growth.  A revised Local Plan would also provide a robust planning framework ahead of local government reorganisation. Councillor Evemy thanked the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and planning officers for their contributions and urged members to support the recommendations to move forward swiftly with the work.

 

The Chair invited questions for clarity.

 

Members thanked officers for the recent five-year housing supply briefings attended by both councillors and town and parish representatives. The risk of speculative development if no action was taken emphasised the importance of local decision-making and infrastructure delivery, while acknowledging the district’s housing shortage, particularly in social rented homes.

 

A member raised a query on behalf of a town councillor, asking whether parish and town councils with approved neighbourhood plans should begin reviewing them in light of the Local Plan review, and whether a new referendum would be required. They requested that clear guidance be provided to those Town and Parish Councils who had an approved Local Neighbourhood Plan in place.

 

Councillor Mike Evemy welcomed the comment about the importance of infrastructure and ensuring it was in place first.  It was important that decisions were made around site allocations and the necessary infrastructure. He also drew attention to the fact that the government had withdrawn funding for new neighbourhood plans, and new plans were not being invited, though those already in progress could continue.

 

The Principal Planning Policy Officer reported that several strong neighbourhood plans had already been made across the district, with others currently in development. They noted that the Council’s loss of its five-year housing land supply resulted in housing supply policies becoming out of date. However, the remaining local plan policies, including  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33

 

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