COTSWOLDS MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown has advocated thinking "very carefully about how else the unique nature of the Cotswolds can be preserved for future generations" amid a backlash over proposals to make the area a national park. 

Here he writes his views on the issue.

There are many areas of the country that are facing huge pressures to build more houses but the Cotswolds must be at the top of that list. This was aptly demonstrated by the now derided algorithm which proposed an increase in housing targets in the Cotswolds by 188 per cent.

Housing policy should not be about numbers it should be about need. In the Cotswolds, we require small houses and flats for first-time buyers and key public sector workers.

The unprecedented pressure to build more houses threatens very special areas such as the Cotswolds. Many of the small towns with their Saxon and Roman origins had marketplaces that were only designed for a certain number of people too many houses and they will simply become swamped. In order to preserve the unique build and landscape of the Cotswolds for future generations, the Government needs to consider further protection.

Having seen the huge damage being placed on the Cotswolds I encouraged the Glover Review to look at the possibility that the Cotswolds could be designated as a national park.

There are a lot of misconceptions about national parks, one misconception is that there will be no new building of houses and I even had one constituent in the last few days doubting whether he would be able to use modern farming methods.

I have visited the South Downs which are the most recently designated national park, an area that has had the advantage of learning from the mistakes that some of the older national parks suffer from. Its standing orders allow for a realistic national park plan to be created and provided development conforms to that plan, planning is delegated back to the local authorities who are paid a fee to carry out that task.

It is not the case that no new development will be permitted, just that sustainability, design, and harmony with the landscape will be considered a little more carefully than a small local authority like the Cotswolds has the resources or time to do.

Equally, there should be enough extra resources to manage the already considerable number of tourists in a better organised and more environmentally friendly way.

Whilst there is a great deal of consultation to be undertaken before a national park is designated in the Cotswolds, I would urge all of those interested including businesses and farmers who are apprehensive about becoming a national park to fully participate in the consultation if and when it happens. But I would advise we think very carefully about how else the unique nature of the Cotswolds can be preserved for future generations.