Eastleach Parish Council has received enquiries about the Ernest Cook Trust’s (ECT) plans for the Elephant Barn and its surrounding land, as well as discussions about the future of housing in the village. The Council would like to share what is currently known and explain the work underway.
Elephant Barn
The Parish Council has no further information about the Elephant Barn beyond that contained in the invitation to tender on the Savills website here: https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gb0458s399503.
In an informal discussion, the ECT reiterated its interest in a mixed-use, workshop-style development. This could potentially generate income for the local community and create employment opportunities in the district. No further details are currently available.
Exploring future housing needs
The Parish Council has also held a preliminary meeting with the ECT and the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (GRCC) to discuss how the village’s future housing needs might be addressed.
As a starting point, the meeting agreed that the existing GRCC Housing Needs Survey would provide the basis for any further work. The next steps will be to identify relevant stakeholders, explore possible ways of delivering any future housing, and understand the options available.
The ECT expressed an interest in being involved in any future housing development in the village. Given that the Trust owns a rental estate of 152 properties, including more than 20 rental properties in Eastleach, the Council welcomed its potential interest in continuing to provide rental accommodation as well as exploring housing for outright sale. The GRCC has offered to support the Council by providing relevant data and helping assess possible delivery models.
No potential sites for housing were discussed at this preliminary meeting. Before considering locations, the Council believes there are important questions to address about the village’s infrastructure, particularly drainage and flood risk, and whether it could or should be improved to accommodate additional homes.
Keeping the community involved
The Parish Council recognises that any consideration of future housing must involve the community at every stage. It is committed to keeping residents informed and will report on progress, including where there has been no further development, at each Parish Council meeting.
The Council believes it is important to take a proactive approach to understanding and planning for the village’s future needs. Having a well-considered plan, developed with community support, could help the village respond more effectively to future development proposals, including speculative applications that may otherwise be difficult to influence.
This work is at an early stage. No decisions have been made about housing sites or development proposals. The Council will provide a further update at its November meeting.