Residents in the beautiful village of Cowley are extremely upset at the construction of a contemporary house with a zinc roof. This dominates the skyline on the rear aspect and can be seen most noticeably from the area near the village war memorial. Jane Edwards, local resident and Lib Dem campaigner, says “This design aspect is totally out of character with the area”.

Ermin ward campaigners Nigel Robbins and Jane Edwards with resident Ray Goodwin in front of the ‘Cowley Cowshed’

Jane met with fellow resident Ray Goodwin who is proud to live in this village with its mellow stone cottages and Cotswold tiled roofs. He is seriously concerned that this building has been allowed to develop in its current form, raising questions about the planning process at Cotswold District Council.
This development has been labelled ‘The Cowley Cowshed’ with its massive lean-to zinc metal roof. Ray comments “This is a traditional Cotswold village with a proud history.” After speaking to planners at CDC, Ray has been told that, “we have to wait until this is finished before anything can be done’’.

The Original plans were submitted in 2002 for a studio and craft centre and residents say they were unaware of significant changes. Nigel Robbins, local campaigner, agrees with Ray that this is an eyesore which really does spoil the village and looks like an industrial or farm outbuilding; He says “It may well be acceptable on an industrial estate or farm complex but not here. Let’s hope common sense prevails and a solution based outcome can be achieved to help reduce the impact of this totally inappropriate design.”

Jane is hoping that planners acknowledge that a mistake has been made. “We all appreciate both traditional and contemporary design but in this case the rear elevation was ill conceived. A good example of the Emperor’s new
Clothes.” says Jane. Let’s hope that Cotswold District Council and the Parish Council can come to
some agreement on minimising the impact of this new building in a Traditional cotswold village. This issue has been followed in the national press; more information can be found by searching the internet for ‘daily mail cowley cowshed’.

 The A417 is experiencing more aggressive driving, people have told us.

Jane with local residents at the usual Friday afternoon jam at Birdlip

Cars are driving along the outside lane then cutting in, especially on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons.

Local campaigner Jane Edwards from Duntisbourne Leer says, ‘’The ongoing traffic problems remain unsolved; they create a huge knock-on effect for our villages, especially Winstone, Syde and Elkstone. Cars come off the dual carriageway to avoid the jams and use our villages as a ‘rat run’, often travelling at high speeds through the lanes.”

“In Elkstone residents take their lives in their hands if they try to return home in the opposite direction to the long stream of cars coming the other way.”

Now, Jane has written to the Highways Agency to see if they can trial some ‘traffic management’ measures at the ‘Nettleton Bottom’ Roundabout to better regulate the flow of traffic. We will keep you up to date as news emerges.

After presenting a petition to the Parish Council, for further passing places in ‘The Loop Road’ between the villages of Duntisbourne Leer and Duntisbourne Abbots, residents are encouraged by positive news.

Jane Edwards says, “The Parish Council Chairman and a representative from Highways have met and agreed to the creation of two new passing places. They hope to include this road improvement project in the budget for April.”

“This will help enormously with the problem of cars and buses having nowhere to reverse and also improving the safety of pedestrians.”