“Vibrant Village Is The Better Model”

KER believes the SDC plan to dump 3,000 houses on the Severn Vale at Eastington and Cam is pandering to Carpet Building Developers and will strangle the lifeblood of the villages of Stroud and the Town of Stroud itself.

SDC failure to consider wider communities

SDC want to build satellite housing estates bang on the M5, in Eastington Hamlets and Cam. All that will happen is that people will move there and commute to Bristol and Gloucester. Therefore, those people will spend their money in Bristol and Gloucester, NOT in Stroud.

Developers of such estates, like Kingsway in Gloucester, will build NO shops, pubs, schools, or Community Centres.

Vibrant Village the Positive Alternative

Over the last 15 years, Eastington has taken 150 new houses (growth from 550).

This is a sustainable growth, as evidenced by the community winning the Vibrant Village of the Year award in 2010

We still have our Post Office - There is still a Village Co-operative Shop, butchers, garages and hairdressers.

A new Community Centre has been built at a fund-raised cost of £500,000,  the Village School has been extended to 140 pupils, allotments and a Community Orchard have been established by volunteers

Now we are threatened by 1,500 houses.  Surely it would be better if we had a dozen Vibrant Villages, maybe two dozen Vibrant villages AND a Vibrant Stroud Town???

If all sizeable villages took the same share of development as Eastington they too would thrive.

Vast estates in Eastington Hamlets and Cam would not be needed - young people would stay in their villages - they could all be Vibrant Villages, not die a slow death

The KER policy is to see as many villages as possible AND Stroud Town, adopt an attitude of Saving our Villages and Saving our Stroud.  Carpet Building in the Severn Vale panders to the Developers who don’t want to trouble with schemes in the Valleys and Villages.

Help our people, help our families stay together and help our villages stay vibrant.

Keep Eastington Rural and you can keep the Rural Life going in every other village in Stroud District