To reassure those who are concerned … that the Town Council has not been doing enough to oppose Cotswold District Council’s plan for up to 1400 new homes in Fairford …

We have:

• Engaged one of the best local planning consultants in the country (who we have worked with before) to help develop Fairford Town Council’s response to the consultation;
• Publicised what we consider to be the most important arguments in opposing the plans, to help guide local residents with their responses;
• Written to the Government, supported by 15 other Parish and Town Councils from across the District, raising detailed issues, some of which they have been unable to answer, about why applying the standard formula for the housing requirement is inappropriate and likely to be ineffective in addressing the local problem of housing affordability;
• Worked together with these other Councils, sharing expert advice where appropriate, to ensure a consistent and effective challenge to the plans, particularly across the south of the District;
• Continued to engage with statutory authorities and Thames Water in particular about issues related to water supply, sewage treatment capacity and local pollution, which are likely to be a constraint on development;
• Looked in detail at the problem of East-West traffic flow capacity through (or around) Fairford and produced an outline specification for studies needed to address this;
• Worked with Local groups to engage a Transport Consultant to evaluate the proposals in the Local Plan.
• Taken an easy decision to commit to an update of the Fairford Neighbourhood Plan, to address the future needs of the town and local area in a much more effective and sustainable way than CDC’s plan.

We would welcome expressions of interest in helping with the last-mentioned task.

More information can be found here: https://fairfordtowncouncil.gov.uk/town-council/council-responses-to-consultations/