Beauty spot villages face the brunt of housing plan

The town of Moreton-in-Marsh is one of several Cotswolds settlements earmarked for potential extension by Cotswold District Council

A number of Cotswold villages are being considered for extension as a council leader says it was "dealt a really tough hand" by the government to tackle housing targets.

Cotswold District Council (CDC) has published draft options for future housing developments to reach its target of building 1,036 homes each year as part of a national drive to create 1.5 million more homes during this parliament.

Mike Emery, leader of CDC, said: "Over 80% of our district is protected National Landscape, which severely limits where houses can be built."

CDC will launch the first of two public consultations on 5 November, following cabinet endorsement of potential development scenarios later this month.

Extensions to Kemble, Ampney Crucis, Preston, Siddington, Fairford, Moreton-in-Marsh, and Fairford form part of the recommended option to be discussed by councillors next week.

A new village near Driffield will also be discussed, along with smaller developments in other towns and villages.

The council said this option could see 14,660 homes built between now and 2043 - the updated Local Plan period - with potential development areas outside of the National Landscape.

Only one of the options meets the full government target, and this involves building within the National Landscape, which is unlikely to be viable under current planning rules, CDC said.

Mary Hamilton, who lives in Moreton, said the town's infrastructure has been left behind as more homes have been built over the years

Regarding recent planning applications in Moreton-in-Marsh, local resident Mary Hamilton said the town has "enlarged an awful lot" since she moved there in 2010.

"We've had now three new developments built on the outskirts of town - one of which I am now living in so I can't complain about that - but it does seem there are now too many and the infrastructure hasn't developed along with the number of extra houses," she said.

Neil Backwith, chairman of Moreton Against Overdevelopment, said 900 homes have been built in Moreton since 2010, and the town now suffers from "major, major traffic issues".

"It is a thorny problem for Cotswold District Council and I don't envy them because the government has made their targets so high," he said.

"From my perspective, you cannot continue to develop a small market town like Moreton because you will destroy it."