Good News – CDC’s New Local Plan Does Not Allocate the Miller Homes Site!
Dear Members,
I am delighted to share some very positive news regarding the proposed Miller Homes development south of Longfurlong Lane.
On Monday 3 August, Cotswold District Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee will consider the draft Regulation 19 Local Plan before it goes to Cabinet on 6 August and Full Council on 12 August for approval for public consultation. This is the final draft of the new Local Plan before it is submitted to the Government for independent examination. Once adopted, it will guide planning decisions across the District until 2043.
The report confirms that the Council has identified sufficient land to deliver 18,911 new homes across the District between 2026 and 2043. This exceeds the Government’s identified housing requirement of 17,918 homes, providing around 5% headroom to ensure the District can continue to meet future housing needs.
Perhaps even more importantly for Tetbury, the report makes it clear that the Council believes this housing requirement can be met without the need to allocate additional sites in sensitive parts of the Cotswold National Landscape. Around 95% of all proposed development is located outside the National Landscape, with only around 5% within it, and those are limited to relatively small sites with lower landscape sensitivity.
This is excellent news for Tetbury.
The draft Local Plan proposes just two housing allocations for Tetbury, both on the north side of the town:
- Blind Lane
- Land north-west of Highfield Cottage
There are no other housing allocations proposed for Tetbury.
Crucially, the Miller Homes site south of Longfurlong Lane has not been allocated for development, nor has it been identified as a site that is needed to meet the District’s housing requirement.
This is a significant setback for Miller Homes’ speculative proposal for up to 130 houses south of Longfurlong Lane.
Although their planning application can still be submitted and considered on its own merits, the emerging Local Plan demonstrates that, after assessing development opportunities across the District, Cotswold District Council does not consider the Longfurlong Lane site necessary to meet future housing needs. Instead, the Council has chosen to direct development elsewhere while protecting the nationally important landscape surrounding Tetbury.
This follows closely on the recent Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Opinion, where the Council required Miller Homes to undertake substantially more environmental assessment work than they had originally proposed. Taken together, these two recent decisions represent encouraging progress for our campaign.
The next stage
Subject to approval by Council, the draft Local Plan will be published for a six-week public consultation from 24 August until 5 October 2026.
This consultation will be extremely important.
It will provide an opportunity for residents to support the Council’s proposed strategy, including its approach to protecting the Cotswold National Landscape and its decision not to allocate land south of Longfurlong Lane for development.
Longfurlong Greenfields Association will prepare guidance for members once the consultation opens, including suggestions on the key points that we believe should be supported. We will circulate this information nearer the time to help members make effective representations.
Finally, thank you to everyone who has supported our campaign since January. Your consultation responses and continued encouragement have helped ensure that the importance of protecting the countryside south of Tetbury remains firmly on the Council’s agenda.
There is still work to do, but this is undoubtedly one of the most encouraging developments we have seen so far.
When Miller Homes submit their planing application, we will invite members to a meeting to discuss the proposals and our strategy to oppose it.
Kind regards,
Chris Giles
Secretary
Longfurlong Greenfields Association