Stow on the Wold Town Council and Swell Parish Council announce that their first neighbourhood plan will be put to a referendum by Cotswold District Council on 26th September 2024.
The plan helps control development in your area, setting planning policies covering the two Parishes until 2031, that will be used in planning decisions by Cotswold District Council. It has been jointly prepared and has evolved over almost a decade of volunteer effort and extensive engagement with the local communities and other bodies in and around the two Parishes.
Following a formal Examination process, which accepted the philosophy of the plan, this final version of the plan does not include the draft proposals for a new housing development, community business hub and public car park behind Tesco, and therefore no proposals to relocate some parking spaces in the Market Square to carry out public realm improvements.
Knowing that a majority of residents supported those proposals, the Town Council will continue to promote this vision of the town beyond 2031 through the new Cotswold District Local Plan.
The referendum will ask
“Do you want Cotswold District Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Stow-on-the Wold and the Swells Parishes to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?”
There are many important policies in the plan including
- Ensuring that development in the two Parishes conserves their special and distinct character.
- For example, the new Design Code adds more detail to the longstanding Cotswold Design Guide to ensure the different parts of the town and the villages are recognised as having their own characteristics, which new developments will have to respect.
- Encouraging the use of zero carbon measures in all new buildings.
- Improvement of the Parishes’ digital communications and infrastructure.
- Domestic vehicle parking standards.
- Identifying buildings of local heritage interest to complement the many listed buildings across the Parishes
- Designating a number of Local Green Spaces to protect them from harmful development
- Policies to promote walking and cycling and health and well-being measures.
- Ensuring the essential rural character and special landscape beauty of the Swells and the rest of the countryside in the area is protected.
Other modifications in the final version of the plan are
- Policy SSNP2: Development in The Swells and the Countryside
References to types of development that Lower Swell and Upper Swell may be suited to have been made less specific. Reference to “rural area” has been changed to “open countryside”.
Deletion of “Proposals for any isolated homes in the rural area argued on the basis that they are of exceptional quality alone will not be supported.”
- Policy SSNP3: Housing Mix
The definition of local connection has been changed to “as defined by the Homeseeker Plus Common Allocations Policy document”.
The mix of dwelling types specifying number of bedrooms has been replaced with more general wording.
- Policy SSNP4: Principal Residence
Policy regarding second homes deleted.
- Policy SSNP5: Specialist Accommodation for Older People in Stow
The cap of 40 units has been removed, and the reference to “households with a local connection” has been replaced with “households with a local connection as defined by the Homeseeker Plus Common Allocations Policy”.
The Neighbourhood Plan is available to view online on Cotswold District Council’s website at: https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policy/neighbourhood-planning/stow-on-the-wold-and-the-swells-neighbourhood-plan/.
Paper copies are available at Stow Library and at the offices of Stow on the Wold Town Council.
Please remember to vote on Thursday 26th September 2024
7am to 10pm
Polling stations at Stow Social Club and Swell Village Hall