Local Plan News and Consultation
Homes, landscape, livelihoods
A legacy we build together.
Cotswold District Council is updating its adopted Local Plan in light of new mandatory housing targets set by the government. The government now requires the district to provide more than twice the number it was previously planning for, which now equates to a total target of 18,650 additional new homes for the new Local Plan which will run up to 2043. From 5 November to 18 December 2025, the Council is running a consultation which looks at different development strategy options to deliver this target.
The Council encourages everyone to participate in the consultation to help inform the next stage of the Local Plan process. Please note these are high level proposals and we are looking for feedback on where development should go and what facilities, services and infrastructure would be needed to support this.
The final consultation document and supporting documents will be published in due course.
Previous updates
Cotswold District Council is updating its adopted Local Plan to make it 'Green to the Core'. At the same time, the council is also considering development needs up to 2041 and options for how these may be delivered. It is also delivering on a commitment made in the Local Plan to prepare a masterplan for the redevelopment of parts of the central area of Cirencester.
The public consultation consists of:
- updated Local Plan policies;
- a vision, objectives and development strategy topic paper that starts the process of how the council addresses development needs to 2041;
- a Call for Sites that invites people to indicate available land that can deliver development needs up to 2041. This can include land for housing, employment, renewable energy, green spaces, nature, etc.
- an ‘initial ideas’ consultation document that starts the process for developing a Framework Masterplan for Cirencester Town Centre;
- an interim Integrated Impact Assessment will support the consultation and will include an appraisal of the development strategy options and the draft policies. This will be available from 9 February 2024.
Feedback from the consultations will be considered and used to help inform the draft Masterplan, and further consultation on the Local Plan.
C2.1.1 Executive Summary And Consultation Instructions And Questions - pdf - 1015 Kb
C2.1.8 Local Plan Update – Comment Form (DOCX) - docx - 29 Kb
C2.2.3C SFRA Appendix C – Site Assessment Spreadsheet (XLSX) - xlsx - 802 Kb
Responses to Local Plan Partial Update ‘Issues and Options’ Consultation 2022
The District Council is partially updating its Local Plan. The first stage of the Local Plan Partial Update was to identify ‘Issues and Options’ that the Local Plan needs to respond to. We undertook a six-week public consultation between February and March 2022. We received a large number of responses, which provided us with an enormous amount of useful information. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the consultation.
You can view the Issues and Options consultation document again via the link below. The links below also provide a summary report of the matters raised by the responses to the consultation and our responses to the representations.
- View the Regulation 18 “Issues and Options” consultation document or online at Issues and Options Consultation
- View the Regulation 18 “Issues and Options” consultation summary report
The information we received is already being used in the next stage of the partial update to the Local Plan, where we are writing new and updated Local Plan policies. We will again ask for your feedback on the proposed Local Plan policies in another public consultation, which we plan to take place later in 2023 and early 2024.
Consultation on Non-Strategic Site Allocations Selection Methodology and Guidance for major development in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (National Landscape)
Between 16 February 2023 and 16 March 2023, we consulted on two evidence documents that will be used in the Local Plan making process. Both consultation documents are unavoidably technical in nature and responses were primarily sought from those with technical expertise, although the consultation was open to anyone who wishes to respond.
Consultation on Non-Strategic Site Allocations Selection Methodology
No sites are being recommended for development in this consultation. The consultation instead seeks views on the various criteria that will help us to select the best and most sustainable sites for development in the Local Plan.
Consultation on Guidance for major development in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (National Landscape)
The guidance explains the two-stage process of how to establish:
- whether development proposals are “major development” in the context of the Cotswolds AONB / National Landscape; and
- whether there are any “exceptional circumstances” for major development in the AONB and whether the development is in the public interest.
We are inviting feedback on whether this guidance can be improved in any way.
The two consultation documents, the consultation questions and further information about the consultation can be accessed via the Council’s online consultation system (Commonplace): https://siteallocationsmethodology.commonplace.is/.