More than 150 people packed a town hall as part of a campaign to oppose overdevelopment. It was standing room only at the event organised by Moreton Against Overdevelopment on August 22. The unexpectedly high number of attendees lined the walls of the Redesdale Lower Hall and others listened to the amplified discussion in the foyer and even in the street, according to the organisers.
The meeting was chaired by Neil Backwith, a team member and resident of Moreton for 30 years. In his introduction, he told the audience that the campaign was non-political and led by a small group of locals who want to stop the gross over-development of Moreton-in-Marsh before the beauty and history of the market town is completely destroyed. He explained that the campaign strategy is to urge (CDC) to think again and to object to the proposals through the proper channels but to add a campaign for direct action.
Darren Curry, who moved to Moreton more recently, told the audience of the reasons he started the campaign early in the year, when the update proposals to the local plan, the district’s blueprint for development, were first revealed by CDC. He which could give rise to Moreton’s population approaching 10,000 from around 5,000 currently. The population of Moreton grew by 43 per cent in just ten years from 2011-2021.
Moreton has already received 183 per cent of the total housing built in the district, the campaigners say. They say the targeted number of houses for the whole of the Cotswol.