Cotswolds villagers threaten to sell up over 'horrifying' plans to build 19,000 homes and turn their idyllic communities into 'packed towns'

By JON BRADY, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 12:40, 29 July 2026 | Updated: 12:40, 29 July 2026 Residents of the Cotswolds say the idyllic region's peace is under threat after the district council unveiled plans to build 19,000 new homes. Cotswold District councillors will meet on Monday to begin the process of agreeing a new local plan that villagers say will 'reshape' some of Britain's most picturesque places – doubling and even tripling some in size by building on vacant land. Moreton-in-Marsh – home to Dame Prue Leith and DJ Calvin Harris – could have 2,217 houses built under the proposals, while Cirencester could grow by as many as 3,717 properties. Other communities set to suffer include Down Ampney (1,658), Preston (1,368), Mickleton (1,238), Fairford (1,141) Kemble (1,020) and Siddington (372) – home to Changing Rooms star Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. The new blueprint for the 18,900 homes will see a massive expansion of communities over two decades by 2043, with new schools, transport links, health centres and other infrastructure factored in. It forms part of Labour's national housing drive to build 1.5million new homes during this parliament, which includes mandatory council house-building targets. But some locals are angry – and are even threatening to leave over the 'horrifying' proposals, claiming it will turn villages into packed towns. Annett and Andrew Stevens, of campaign group Moreton Against Overdevelopment, have lived in Moreton-in-Marsh all of their lives, and object to the plans to build homes in fields to the south and east of the market town, population 5,000. Annett and Andrew Stevens, of campaign group Moreton Against Overdevelopment, say they are not NIMBYs Market day in Moreton-in-Marsh, where some 2,217 new homes will be built to meet national housing targets Your browser does not support iframes. Mr Stevens, 68, said: 'We are not all NIMBYs, because we have already had a lot of building go on, but there comes a time when enough is enough. 'We've been to meetings galore, but the council just steamroller and tell us it's going ahead. We marched up to the field one day with our banners, but the council will still go ahead, it's like we're banging our heads against the wall. 'They have to go through all these meetings to make it look like they're doing the democratic thing, but no one who lives here wants any more development. We are powerless against them.' As part of the action group against local development, Annett and Andrew looked at getting a planning lawyer, but had to back off after being quoted £10,000.  Annett added: 'They say there is nothing wrong with the infrastructure in Morton, but there clearly is. The roads are terrible: it's like the M25 with massive big tractors flying down.' Alison Sadler's house overlooks a large corn field in Fairford, one of the proposed development sites, and only found out on Tuesday afternoon about the plans. Ms Sadler, 55, said: 'If that goes ahead, we will definitely sell up. We moved here three and a half years ago and we bought it because we have the nice view over the fields. 'In our survey before we bought, we were told that the land was not suitable to be built on. The roads are so narrow, there will be an accident, and whenever it rains the area already floods, this will only make it worse.' She added that the infrastructure in the area is already lacking, with one GP surgery and a single private dentist with an 18-month waiting list.  'I just don't know how they're going to accommodate thousands of new residents,' she said. This field is one of a number on Moreton-in-Marsh's southern and eastern borders earmarked for house-building between now and the end of the 2030s A vacant field in Mickleton, where over 1,200 homes will be built under the new Cotswold District local plan Locals say the proposed changes to the sleepy Cotswolds village are 'horrifying' - and that it will not cope with the added demand Last year, retired Kemble mechanic Rodney Lambert told the Mail new homes had not changed the village for the better Is it right to sacrifice the character of historic villages to solve the housing crisis? What's your view?Grace Webb, 38, has lived in Mickleton for five years with her two-year-old daughter and four-month-old son – and worries about school places. Ms Webb, a designer, said: 'I don't know anyone who is pleased about more houses. 'We had about 100 houses built at the end of our road and it took them three years after the building was finished to resurface the road, and that was only because we pestered them. 'They don't seem to care about the aftermath of all these building works. We can see the primary school from our house and it would break my heart if my kids can't get in there after they build these new houses.' A Mickleton resident called Carol branded the proposal to build over 1,200 homes nearby 'truly horrifying'. 'It's still a lovely village, but soon, it won't be a village, it will be a town and they should be building more facilities than they're proposing,' the 75-year-old said. Last year, the Mail spoke to residents in Kemble, where over 1,000 homes will be built. Retired vehicle mechanic Rodney Lambert, 73, told us as he tended his garden: 'I've lived here most of my life and in recent years Kemble has changed so much - and not for the better. They're allowing too many houses to be built now. 'I understand the need for more housing, especially affordable and social housing, but most of the homes I see going up are in the million pound plus bracket. 'I guess I'm just going to have to get used to it. We all are.' Mortgage adviser Charlotte Innes, 28, said at the time: 'I work from home so having a decent view was the most important feature when I bought my house two years ago. 'If this development gets the go-ahead, it will be horrendous. There'll be traffic hell, construction hell, noise hell and dust hell.' The district council says the homes are 'vital' for easing housing need, slowing spotty speculative development and controlling where homes are built.  House-building will be done gradually, at a rate of 420 homes per year for the first five years, rising to over 1,000 and then over 1,550 by the end of the 2030s. Around four in ten houses at major sites will be affordable homes. It will be presented to the overview and scrutiny committee on Monday, August 3, the council cabinet on August 6, and Full Council on August 12. cabinet on August 6 and full council on August 12. Only then will it go to a six-week public consultation running from August 24 to October 5, before awaiting sign-off from Housing Secretary Angela Rayner. Council leader Mike Evemy – who has previously blasted the Government target as 'detached from reality' – said in a statement that the council had a 'challenge' of doing its bit to meet national housing demand. 'Failing to progress a new local plan does not remove the pressure for development,' he said. 'It would leave us with less influence over where growth takes place, the quality of developments, and the infrastructure delivered alongside them. 'These are difficult choices, but avoiding them would not protect the Cotswolds. 'This is a plan we can stand behind. It is rigorous, it is considered, and it offers the best route to take control of our district's future.' The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government previously said that 'all areas, including the Cotswolds, must play their part' in ending the housing crisis.