WODC vote in favour of housing development in Woodstock
A controversial plan to build 300 homes on land to the South East of Woodstock were approved this week after a long campaign by Woodstock Action Group against the proposal.
After more than two hours of debate, councillors at the packed planning meeting at the council offices in Witney, voted 9 to 2 in favour of the proposal by Blenheim Estates and Pye Homes.
Last roll of the dice as WODC decide on proposal for 300 houses in Woodstock
The final decision on the proposal to build 300 houses, plus retail shops, on the South East of the village of Woodstock will be made next week.
This is the last roll of the dice.
Woodstock Action Group (WAG) are calling for as many people as possible to attend this meeting to demonstrate the level of public opposition to valuable farmland being concreted over and the historic character of this 900-year-old town being lost forever.
The meeting will be held on Monday, 6 February at 2:00pm, at the West Oxfordshire District Council Offices in Witney.
Please go along and lend your support!
Housing development on edge of Burford village approved on appeal
Plans for a care village and housing estate on the edge of Burford in West Oxfordshire have been allowed on appeal to help meet the area’s housing supply shortfall.
Hallam Land Management’s proposal for up to 91 homes, 78 assisted living apartments and a 90-bed care home in open countryside on the edge of the town was lodged two years ago.
The company’s application prompted around 450 written objections from local people, including many from the Help Preserve Burford Campaign, and was turned down by West Oxfordshire District Council on the grounds that the need for a development on this scale had not been shown and the infrastructure needed to support it was lacking.
But last week inspector Keith Manning gave the green light for the scheme, following a public inquiry last summer.
Oxfordshire Affordability
Need not Greed Oxfordshire recently asked Peter Jay, Chairman of Rural Oxfordshire Action Rally (ROAR) – a founding member of the coalition, to produce a short note on ‘Oxfordshire Affordability’.
This excellent paper (see below) examines the notion of ‘affordability’ in the Oxfordshire context and shows how, despite rapid and damaging development, we are not meeting the real needs of local people.