News
Council to fight proposals for housing in the Green Belt and Didcot
Release date: Nov 5, 2005
"keep your hands off the Green Belt around Oxford"
South Oxfordshire District Council’s Cabinet last night sent a strong message to the South East England Regional Assembly
(SEERA) – “keep your hands off the Green Belt around Oxford and don’t propose building houses at Didcot without first looking
at a range of alternatives and tackling the existing infrastructure problems”.
The Cabinet was meeting to consider
its response to the draft South East Plan - the regional plan that the Deputy Prime Minister has asked SEERA to produce.
In particular, it concentrated on the effect that the proposals contained in the Central Oxfordshire sub-regional strategy
would have on southern Oxfordshire.
A report prepared by SEERA officers for the Regional Planning Committee next
Monday advocates development in and adjoining Oxford to meet current housing growth targets over the next 20 years.
If the Government increases those targets then the report proposes development at Didcot and Bicester too. This view
is the opposite of that taken by the County Council earlier in the week, which supported development at Didcot and Bicester
to protect the Green Belt around Oxford.
The Council’s Cabinet rejected both of these proposals outright.
It re-affirmed its commitment to retaining the Green Belt around Oxford, citing its fundamental importance in protecting the
setting of Oxford and the individual identity of surrounding villages. It also rejected development at Didcot, citing
the amount of additional housing already in the pipeline; the lack of infrastructure i.e. roads, schools, health facilities
and the like to support more development; and the failure to look at other alternatives in sufficient detail.
The
Cabinet member for Planning, John Cotton, said:
“The Cabinet is determined to stand up and take a lead in protecting
the interests of all of the people of South Oxfordshire. This will not be easy because we are a small voice in a very
large region but we will continue with our “Hands Off” campaign and we will mobilise the residents of the district so that
they are ready to object in large numbers when this plan comes out for consultation next January. We saw off the proposals
of the County Council to build in the Green Belt in its Structure Plan and I am sure we can do the same with SEERA and its
regional plan.
“Development in the Green Belt on the scale being talked about could be the death knell for a
whole swathe of villages around Oxford - like the Baldons, Nuneham Courtney, Garsington and Horspath - as they get swallowed
up into the urban area. Development will also ruin the unique setting of the city itself. I find it somewhat ironic
that I am arguing to protect this whilst the City Council itself seemingly couldn’t care less. We must act, in conjunction
with the residents of both our villages and the city, to protect the Green Belt and fight these proposals.
“At
the same time the Council will not neglect Didcot. We are already planning for around 4,500 more homes in the town and
at this time the town simply cannot take any more. It concerns me that those involved in putting the proposals together
have not fully explored all the alternatives such as using redundant MoD sites or spreading some of the load to other large
Oxfordshire towns beyond the very artificial boundary drawn up for this exercise.”
ENDS
Note
to Editors:
The Regional Planning Committee will make recommendations on what should go into the South
East Plan that a full meeting of SEERA will consider on the 29 November. Once SEERA has agreed proposals, it will issue
these for consultation in a document that it plans to have ready in January 2005. The consultation period is three months.
SEERA will then submit proposals to the Deputy Prime Minister who will make the final decision on both levels and location
of housing growth across the region.
Quick Links
