NORTH Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown's monthly column for the Wilts and Glos Standard.
Over the last few weeks, I am very aware the new housing targets have been met with disdain by my constituents with the recent announcement of the Cotswolds District Council (CDC) updated Local Plan.
Back in January 2024, CDC started work on a new Development Strategy and Site Allocations Plan which included a new local plan scheduled to run for the period 2026 up to 2041, the next 15 years.
At that time, the Conservative Government decided that CDC only needed to deliver 493 additional homes per year to meet the required housing target.
In December 2024, the Housing Secretary at the time, the Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP, revised the National Planning Policy Framework, more than doubling the number of new houses needed in the Cotswolds to 1,036 additional houses per year.
The change has also meant that the district's Government target five-year housing land supply is to fall from 7.3 years to just 1.8 years.
This means that the District will be liable to all sorts of speculative housing applications in undesirable locations.
In July, I had a meeting with Cllr Mike Emery, Leader of Cotswold District Council.
We both raised our concerns with the Government and wrote to the Housing Secretary, but have since been told that they will not revise the target.
Therefore, CDC has been left to try to find space for 18,000 houses.
The Cotswolds is a beautiful place to live and work.
The rolling fields and Cotswold stone houses bring charm to the area that makes us a world-famous destination to visit.
Yet these fields are not just to look at, they are where we grow food and are managed by our hardworking farmers who also protect our environment and encourage biodiversity.
I fear that this plan puts the rural identity of the Cotswolds under threat.
The Plan announced this week by CDC would see the district meet 79 per cent of the Government target, delivering 14,660 homes, with some sites housing more than 500 houses.
In the new plan, gone is the focus on building houses just in the principal settlements and now we have plans to build in 'non-principal settlements' such as Willersey with 180 houses, plus potential 'new settlements' such as Driffield with 840 houses, and 'strategic sites' such as Moreton with 1,710 new homes.
I also fear that this plan has been rushed and will not meet the community's needs.
There is no guarantee that these houses will be truly affordable or help our youngsters find a home.
Flooding is also another huge issue which we already suffer with, and more houses without the infrastructure will only lead to more houses that flood.
We do need more houses to help support and grow our communities sustainably with a range of different housing.
We want young families to move to the Cotswolds to support the local economy, and we want older people who want to downsize to be able to move to a smaller house and still remain part of the village with the same doctor.
It's all very well building more and more expensive four and five-bedroom homes whilst our local population are forced to move elsewhere to find housing they can afford.
Therefore, I am happy to be working alongside Dr Roz Savage MP, Member of Parliament for South Cotswolds, to challenge the Government to ask them to look at the housing target again.
We have written to the Rt Hon Steve Reed MP to ask for a meeting to discuss this in more detail, and I hope the Government will listen to common sense.
I would highly encourage everyone to participate in the Council's consultation that closes on January 2, 2026.
The easiest way for residents to make sure they have their say is via the Local Plan online consultation site your.cotswold.gov.uk.