THE blueprint for housing, jobs and infrastructure in the Cotswolds for the next 15 years has been signed off by the district council, despite a number of opposing votes.

The 266-page Local Plan, led by deputy council leader Cllr Nick Parsons, will outline where 8,400 houses will be built throughout the district by 2031. Around 5,000 houses have already been built or given planning permission.

The plan includes a revised figure adding a further 800 homes to satisfy government criteria. Two hundred of these were allocated to Moreton.

Conservatives Cllr Alison Coggins and Cllr Robert Dutton, ward councillors for Moreton, opposed the plan saying the additional homes made it 'unsupportable'.

Cllr Coggins said two new allocated sites to the south of the market town could lead to a third, much larger, field being developed, which would 'irreparably damage the town'.

The plan was also opposed by the Liberal Democrats.

Cllr Stephen Hirst, Conservative, cautioned councillors to think of the “wider district” but had his own reservations about the lack of land given over to employment.

“We are getting thousands of new homes. Where are these people going to work? If they go Swindon, Gloucester or Cheltenham they will have to travel and the roads are already getting packed,” he said.

Cllr Harris said the Lib Dems could not support the plan because consultation over its various phases had been lacking, it was "narrow-minded" and gave too much favour to the 2,350-home Chesterton development.

"It’s not wanted by Cirencester or the surrounding area. We’ve only got one strategic site and I’d argue those 2,350 homes could have been spread around the Cotswolds.”

He added the council had “ridden rough shod over the views of residents”.

Council leader Lynden Stowe said a strong Local Plan was needed and that thousands of hours had gone into its preparation. "We’ve had thousands of consultation responses, but many of those people will be disappointed and that is one of the challenges of being a local authority."

A successful eleventh-hour call was made by Conservative Robin Hughes and Lib Dem leader Joe Harris to change a policy that would have hindered new homes being built in smaller villages.

Under the new rules a list of prerequisites - such as having a school or a shop - have been scrapped.

In total, 19 members voted to approve the plan, seven voted against it and one abstained.

It will now go to consultation for six weeks, around the end of June, before it is submitted to central Government later in the year.