Green light for 37 new homes in Cotswolds

PLANS to build 37 affordable homes in a Cotswold town have been given the go-ahead.

Bayhill Property has been granted permission to build 22 rented and 15 shared ownership properties on land north of Oddington Road in Stow-on-theWold.

The development will cover more than five acres of land next to King George’s Field. It includes 14 three-bedroom homes, 13 two-beds and 10 one-bed units – all of them two storeys high.

More than 20 people objected to the proposals with concerns that the access to the site is “extremely dangerous”.

These concerns were shared by the town council.

But 10 letters of support were also sent to Cotswold District Council calling on them to approve the scheme.

Town council chairman Ben Eddolls called for the decision to be deferred until after their neighbourhood development plan had completed the examination stage.

He raised concerns over highway safety and about the capacity of Stow’s sewage system.

“A previous application for housing on this site was refused by the secretary of state in 2015 principally due to the harm it would cause to the area of outstanding natural beauty,” he told the planning and licensing committee on Wednesday.

Mark Godson, of SF Planning, said there was provision in the local plan to support the delivery of affordable housing next to existing settlements.

“Stow-on-the-Wold is a designated principal settlement yet in the last 10 years has seen little general housing growth and zero affordable housing provision,” he said.

Councillor Joe Harris proposed approving the scheme and said it was a “no brainer”.

“Two social rented houses delivered in Stow in the last 50 years,” he said. “That is a scandal.”