In March 2026, Cotswold Homes made a planning application to Stroud District Council to develop 30 homes on land south of Cirencester Road outside Minchinhampton. The application includes affordable housing, with associated highway access, landscaping, external works and infrastructure, as well as the installation of a sewage pumping station. A location map is below and the full application can be found on SDC's website, here.

Minchinhampton Parish Council is objecting to this proposal.

There are many grounds for objection, fully laid out on this page.

​In summary:

This application is flawed on multiple independent grounds. Any single ground below is sufficient to require refusal. Together they constitute an overwhelming case:
  • SDC is subject to a statutory duty under Section 85 CROW Act 2000 (as strengthened by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023) to seek to further the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the National Landscape;
  • The development constitutes major development in the National Landscape for which no exceptional circumstances or national interest case has been made, contrary to NPPF Paragraph 190 and Local Plan Delivery Policy ES7;
  • The NPPF Paragraph 11(d)(i) tilted balance is disapplied by the Cotswolds National Landscape and Rodborough Common SAC designations, confirmed by the applicant's own Planning Statement;
  • The development fails Local Plan Core Policies CP2, CP3 and CP14, and Delivery Policies CP15, HC1, ES3, ES6 and ES7, each independently;
  • The development conflicts with NDP Policies MP Env 1, MP Env 3, MP Env 4, MP Dev 1, MP Traffic 1 and MP Traffic 2;
  • There is no deliverable foul drainage solution: the Severn Trent evidence has expired, assessed the wrong number of dwellings, and predates key spill data; the proposed pumped connection is unapproved; the Section 58 resurfacing restriction is unaddressed; and the existing network is demonstrably failing;
  • The highways access is unsafe in real-world conditions, the Transport Statement ignores the particular challenges documented in the NDP's own evidence base, and the cumulative impacts on Cirencester Road have not been assessed; and
  • Three directly comparable Inspector and Committee decisions — including a refusal on this very site in 2014 — confirm that even minor development is unacceptable here.
If you would like to comment on or object to this application, you can register and do so in 2,000 characters or less  here. If you wish to object, remember to start your objection with "I object" and give your reasons. Planners will only be influenced by objections that are based on the local and national planning policies, as summarised above. It is important that this is in your own words. Comments must now be made before Saturday 9th May, 2026.