August 2026 update

Cotswold District Local Plan 2026-2043 – Have Your Say

Cotswold District Council has just published the latest version of its draft Local Plan.

The Local Plan sets out the Council’s proposed planning strategy for the district until 2043, including policies and proposals for housing, employment, infrastructure, environmental protection and sustainable development. Once adopted, the new Local Plan will replace the adopted Cotswold District Local Plan 2011-2031 and will form the basis for determining planning applications across the district.

You might recall that Cotswold District Council issued an early draft of its Local Plan in 2024. Aspects of this earlier version of the Plan, particularly Draft Policy EN18 (Sherborne Park Estate Masterplan), caused some alarm in the community at the time. Sherborne Parish Council CDC EN18/NT Masterplan

However, we can now report that Policy EN18 has been dropped from the latest Draft Plan. There appear to be no specific policies affecting the Sherborne area, other than some of the more generic policies relating to Registered Parks & Gardens, Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas, the Cotswold National Landscape, Rural Diversification and the Conversion of Rural Buildings.

Now is the chance to have your say on all aspects of the Local Plan:

A consultation period will run for six weeks from 24 August 2026 until 5 October 2026. Access to the Plan and Consultation form on-line can be found at CDC Local Plan Consultation

 

________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The Parish Council (PC) was surprised to learn of the addition of item ‘EN18 – Sherborne Park Estate Masterplan’ to the Cotswold District Council’s Local Plan, currently subject to consultation.

The PC is in the process of consulting the community and lobbying the District Council (appointed officers and elected members) for more information and access to documentation they have beyond what has already been published. See links below.

Cotswold District Local Plan Update Consultation Draft Policies: Tracked Changes 14.1.1b Local Plan Reg.18 Consultation Draft Policies Tracked Changes (cotswold.gov.uk)

See page 269. Take special note of item: ‘Offers a sustainable tourism offer close to Bourton-on-the-Water which could help mitigate its ‘honey pot status’.

Cotswold District Local Plan Update Consultation Executive Summary and Consultation Instructions and Questions 14-1-1-executive-summary-consultation-instructions-and-questions-feb-2024 v2 (cotswold.gov.uk)

See page 26 for Policy EN18 and page 3 for instructions for providing feedback.

In the meantime, please feel free to share your thoughts with the PC via cdclocalplan@sherborneparish.org. Any representations received will be included within the PC’s ongoing lobbying activity.

You may also wish to contact the relevant District Council representatives:

Please copy any representations you make to the District Council to cdclocalplan@sherborneparish.org.