Why Cheltenham Open Data Exists, and How to Keep It Free
A free, independent site that puts Cheltenham's public data in one place, with no tracking cookies. Here's why it was built and how local businesses can support it.
By Mat Benfield · Published 2026-10-07
I live in Cheltenham, and I kept wanting one place to check things like house prices, planning applications, fuel prices and flood warnings, without digging through council PDFs and government spreadsheets. So I built it.
Cheltenham Open Data brings together public information from ONS and Nomis, the bus open data service, Ofcom, the Department for Education, GOV.UK, OpenStreetMap and more. Pages refresh automatically, from hourly fuel prices to monthly care home ratings.
FAQs
Is It Free?
- Yes, and it will stay free to use. There are no paywalls, no accounts and no pop-ups.
Does It Track Me?
- No. There are no tracking cookies and no ad tech. Visitor statistics are anonymised and cookie-free, and newsletter addresses are never shared with sponsors or anyone else. The privacy policy has the details.
Who Runs It?
- Me, Mat, a Cheltenham resident and software engineering lead. It’s independent and isn’t connected to the council or any company.
How Is It Paid For?
- By a small number of local businesses, one per section of the site. Each gets a single “supported by” card near the top of its pages. No flashing adverts, no pop-ups.
- Founding sponsors pay £100 a month. If your business would like to support the site, here’s how it works.
Can I Suggest Data?
- Please do. If there’s something about Cheltenham you wish you could look up in one place, get in touch.