A COTSWOLD campaign group has urged the district council to "think again" in an open letter after residents have opposed plans to build more homes in Moreton. 

Moreton Against Overdevelopment, a campaign group set up to oppose Cotswold District Council's plan to build thousands of new homes in Moreton, has sent a letter to council leader Joe Harris. 

The letter formally notifies the CDC about the results of a "residents' poll" in which the group asked Moreton residents about their views towards more new homes in the town. 

The poll found that 96% of the 1,334 people who took part opposed the "Local Plan Update" from the CDC which could see a further 1,500 homes built in the town. 

The group points out that the additional 1,500 homes combined with 310 at the Fire Service College and the 900 already built since 2011 would see Moreton grow by 186%. 

The letter said: "Moreton has spoken and said no to your draft plan.

"To press ahead regardless of the town’s wishes is inconceivable and will not be received well by the residents who, undoubtedly, will continue to campaign for fairness and against imbalance.

"As a group determined to fight over-development we are not against ‘development per se’ but want to see an equitable plan, where housing development is spread across the district in a fairer way, reflecting and respecting the needs of the local people."

The group polled the public on June 8 and 1,284 of the 1,334 votes cast, opposed the proposals.

Moreton currently has around 2,300 homes and its population has increased by 44% since 2010. 

A Cotswold District Council spokesperson said:  "No decisions around development in Moreton-in-Marsh have been made.

"The council is committed to engaging with residents on where new homes are built and infrastructure improvements should be made.

"The Local Plan process is iterative and will be led by the evidence, which to date indicates that strategic scale growth in Moreton is an important component of accommodating the district’s development needs up to 2041.

"We ran two Moreton specific engagement events through the last Local Plan consultation process to ensure residents had the chance to speak to us about our very early thoughts on how we meet housing targets and make any new development work for the town.

"The responses we had to our consultation earlier this year were very insightful and we are currently in the process of reviewing them all and will be commissioning further evidence studies based on the feedback.

"We will continue to engage with Moreton residents, as well as residents elsewhere in the district, and will listen to their views over the coming months and years as we develop our Local Plan.

"Ultimately, a balanced and evidence-led decision will need to be taken that considers the options across the entire district."

The open letter is on page 6.