The Friends of Lye Valley campaign group have pledged to protect Warren Meadow which lies next to the Lye Valley nature reserve in Oxford after development plans were given the go-ahead.

Friends of Lye Valley secretary Heather Armitage said residents were “bitterly disappointed” after city councillors approved plans to build 10 homes on the meadow east of Warren Crescent.

She added councillors have pledged to “call in” the application, allowing planning officials to review the proposals and give the group more time to voice their concerns.

Ms Armitage said it was vital to protect this fragile habitat, known by residents as Warren Meadow, since it is a rainwater catchment area for springs which go down to the 8,000-year-old Lye Valley Fen.

She added: “Developing could be detrimental for this very rare habitat that is so precious but we don’t know because it would be an experiment.”

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Today the OxLEP – the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership published its plans for public engagement in the SEP ‘refresh’ – the same day the Need not Greed Oxon Coalition issued a Press Release calling for OxLEP to come clean on its plans.

OxLEP prepared a Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) for the county that was adopted and submitted to Government in March 2014. OxLEP is now refreshing the Plan over the coming months.

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The Need not Greed Oxon campaign launched a Press Release today: ‘Oxfordshire’s forced economic growth strategy: Time for OxLEP and Councils to come clean on public consultation process’.

The Need not Greed Oxon Coalition is demanding that proposals for how local people will be involved in decisions on the future growth strategy for the county are published.

OxLEP, the unelected Local Enterprise Partnership, has promised a public consultation on the ‘refresh’ of its Strategic Economic Plan. However, so far it has failed to make clear what exactly this will involve and whether there will be any opportunity to comment on the overall growth targets.Read more …→

High Street, Burford.

A year ago the town of Burford in West Oxfordshire was faced with a planning application for a major development off Shilton Road which would bring over 400 extra residents and 200 plus vehicles to this small rural town and its already over-crowded roads.

Thanks to the written objections of 450 local people and the unanimous opposition of the Uplands Planning Committee, this unsustainable development was turned down – the need for a development on this scale could not be demonstrated and the infrastructure to support it was lacking.

Disappointingly, the developer Hallam Land Management, has lodged an appeal, which will be heard at a Public Inquiry.Read more …→

View of Harwell and Didcot from the Ridgeway

The village of Harwell is once again the site of a development proposal on greenfield – this time by Gladman Developments who want to build up to 60 homes on land north of Didcot Road, on the east of Harwell.

As part of Gladman’s ‘commitment to engage with local communities’, leaflets outlining the development proposals and seeking comments have been distributed during late January 2016 to approximately 365 households and businesses in Harwell, as part of Gladman’s pre-application, public consultation process.
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Gavray Meadows in Bicester is under threat from development. Part of Gavray Meadows was designated a local wildlife site, or Conservation Target Area (CTA), in 2002 – it is home to many rare species and is virtually the only wild green space remaining inside Bicester’s ring road. But 300 homes are proposed for Gavray Meadows and the surrounding area, known by planners as ‘Bicester 13’.
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Jo Schofield

Residents from all over Oxfordshire attended the Protect Vale Green Belt Walk on Sunday morning (24 January) to express their concern about plans to develop large parts of the Green Belt around north Abingdon.

The walk was organised by members of the Need not Greed Oxon coalition to highlight the challenges faced by the Green Belt in North Abingdon, including SPADE – Sunningwell Parishioners Against Damage to the Environment, NALPG – North Abingdon Local Planning Group, and CPRE Oxfordshire.Read more …→

OxLEP – the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the unelected and unaccountable quango responsible for the county’s forced economic growth strategy, is this week appointing consultants to work on a ‘refresh’ of the Strategic Economic Plan (SEP).

The Need not Greed Oxon campaign is calling on local Councils to work together to ensure the growth figures in the new SEP are more realistic and appropriate for a rural county and better focused on real need. 

And we need you to help persuade them!

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A planning inspector has warned that West Oxfordshire will need to build more than the 10,500 new homes proposed in the local plan currently under examination. He said this total did not comply with the controversial Oxfordshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment published in 2014, which proposes 13,200 new homes. The council is to review options, including any unmet needs of adjacent councils, in the coming weeks.

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The Oxford Strategic Partnership is holding an Open Event – A Sustainable Future for Oxford and Oxfordshire – that will be held at The King’s Centre in Oxford, on Friday 26^th February 2016, 9:30am – 13:00pm.

It is exactly this kind of forum that we must use to bring our concerns to the attention of local decision-makers and challenge the narrative and targets that they would have us swallow without question.

We encourage local organisations and individuals to attend.

This is your chance to have a say on the vision for the future of Oxford!

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