Cherwell proposes 300 houses in Green Belt on Land Behind the Moors (Post dated 18th Oct 2023)

Cherwell is currently running a consultation on a new Local Plan which closes on Friday November 3rd and there is now an opportunity for you to submit your comments. This is a guide to the main concerns and some suggestions on what to say.  It can be downloaded as a word document for ease of reference.

 

 THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO INFLUENCE CHERWELL'S LOCAL PLAN 2040

RESPOND BY FRIDAY NOVEMBER 3rd 2023

 

 

The Local Plan will set Cherwell's planning policies out to 2040. It is currently at a draft stage - feedback received now could influence the final draft version which will be submitted to govenment for inspection and aproval.

As you will know, the last plan - the “Partial Review”, adopted in 2020, already provides for at least 4,400 new houses (likely to be more) in the area around Kidlington. Planning applications for many of these have already been submitted. KDW did all it could to prevent this loss of Green Belt, taking the case all the way to the High Court.

 

One particularly concerning aspect of this new plan – the Local Plan Review 2040 - is that the Council is now proposing to allow yet more housing on the Green Belt, this time at land behind the Moors. Previously it had said it would not do this. In its last consultation in September 2021, the Council stated (page 88):

 

“Due to the planned housing growth at Kidlington and the Green Belt we have not included an option for further residential development at this time beyond that identified in the Partial Review.”

 

We don’t know why the Council has changed its mind. However, yet again, the Council is planning for many more houses across the District than it needs to. The Government requires Cherwell to provide for 742 houses each year, but Cherwell is planning for 1009. In addition it is providing for another 284 each year for Oxford, even though the Government’s calculations would require nothing like that number,

 

We don’t think that the land behind the Moors is a suitable site for housing. Our reasons for this are listed here. At the last consultation we submitted a proposal that it should be designated a Local Green Space. You can see the detailed justification for our proposal here KDW response to options consultation (representation 8). The Council chose to ignore this in favour of more housing.

The consultation on the draft plan can be found on Cherwell’s website at:

https://www.cherwell.gov.uk/local-plan-review-2040

 

Here you can find a print version of the plan which you can download or you can view the document chapter by chapter. There are a number of other proposals for Kidlington in Chapter 6 which you may also want to comment on.

 

We have extracted the detailed information the Council has given about the Moors proposal (i.e. Pages 260 and 261 of the Draft Local Plan, You can see it here.

 

It’s important to state your concerns in your own words. However, some points that you could cover are given via the links below:

• Overall issues
  
• the fields behind the Moors
• Other matters

The closing date for responses is Friday 3^rd November.

You must give your name and contact address (email or postal).

Please be aware that any comments received will be made publicly available.

 

For many people it’s easiest to send an e-mail to:

Planningpolicyconsultation@cherwell-dc.gov.uk 

 

you can also submit comments in one of the following ways:

·         complete Cherwell’s online survey at https://www.cherwell.gov.uk/local-plan-review-2040. (you dont have to answer all the questions)

·         complete and return a downloadable version of the survey

·         write to Planning Policy Consultation, Planning Policy Team, Cherwell District Council, Bodicote House, Bodicote, Banbury. OX15 4AA.

 

Please join our mailing list for news and information on the Local Plan and other major planning issues. Do share with anyone who might be interested.

Email KDW@kidlingtondw.org