Shaping Stroud's Future - Have Your Say

You may have seen that the Council has started work on a new Local Plan and published a map showing sites around the district which includes some fairly large ones near Wotton. I know that this will cause a bit of alarm, especially on social media (Zuckerberg needs more engagement $$$), so I want to reassure you about what's actually going on.

The map is not a plan. It shows land that landowners and developers have put forward. By law, the Council has to consider every site submitted, but being on the map absolutely does not mean a site will be built on. Many will be ruled out and some won't be suitable, others may not even be needed. Nothing has been chosen.

Nothing has been decided. This is the very first stage, a chance to gather views before any options are even drawn up. The Council is asking what matters to us, what the priorities should be, and how we think growth should happen.

The Government, up in Westminster, requires the Council to plan for at least 846 new homes a year. We can't opt out of that, but the Council can weigh up real constraints such as flood risk to the west, the Cotswolds National Landscape to the east and limited road capacity along with sensitive countryside. All these things will shape what's realistic.

Four approaches are on the table. The Council wants our views on how growth could be spread. Spreading it evenly across towns and villages, focusing on the bigger settlements, tying it to infrastructure or larger strategic developments. Each has pros and cons, and none has been picked.

What happens next. After this stage, the Council reviews everything, draws up options, and consults again, with much more detail that time around.

There'll be further chances to comment right through to 2030 before anything is adopted.

Please take part.

The consultation runs until Sunday 9th August. Go to www.stroud.gov.uk/newlocalplan to find the survey and the maps. If the online form is tricky, email local.plan@stroud.gov.uk and they'll help.

If you've got concerns and I know a lot of you do already, now is the time to raise them. It carries far more weight now, while everything is still open, than further down the line.

As always, if you have any questions or just want a chat, I'm easily contactable - phone numbers and email on my home page.

I'm not using Facebook much anymore, but feel free to link and share this reports using whatever social media you fancy.

*You can also find me on the Fediverse (social media without adverts, algorithms, or outrage) here: https://stroud.social/eco-g