Posts by Nemone Caldwell

The government has set out new measures in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill which gives communities more say on local housing targets, as well as encouraging brownfield development and controlling short-term lets. The Government has agreed to a number of planning reforms following pressure from backbench MPs: Making housing targets ‘advisory’, not mandatory. Ending 5 Year housing…

Image credit: The Friends of Burcot and Clifton Hampden Planning permission for a solar farm at Burcot, South Oxfordshire has been refused, with South Oxfordshire District Council deciding: The development is inappropriate development that would be harmful to the openness of the Green Belt and would conflict with the stated purposes of the Green Belt,…

View from a Hanborough resident’s garden over proposed solar farm site With just a couple of weeks to go on the first round of consultation on the Botley West/Blenheim mega-solar farm, campaigners are asking ‘where’s all the info?’ Developers PVDP are currently holding preliminary consultation events on the proposed 1,000+ hectare solar farm, spanning swathes…

CPRE Oxfordshire is concerned to hear of a large-scale solar farm development proposed by Blenheim Estates. The development would cover 1,000 hectares over three sites: Woodstock/Blenheim, Eynsham and Cumnor. The size of the project is so enormous – covering 100 international rugby pitches in total – that it would be considered a national infrastructure project.…

15 minute neighbourhoods should not trump Green Belt protections CPRE Oxfordshire believes the proposal for a Green Belt review, hidden away in the latest consultation on Oxford’s Local Plan, would be inappropriate and a waste of taxpayers’ money.  CPRE is urging City residents and those in surrounding Districts to challenge the City’s approach now before…

In an attempt to drive growth, the government’s proposed Investment Zones will threaten many of our most loved landscapes, stripping away the protection of the planning system from swathes of the countryside. Oxfordshire County Council has confirmed it will not be pursuing Investment Zone status, see the statement below. Helen Marshall, Director of CPRE Oxfordshire:…

CPRE Oxfordshire is demanding that South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) revoke planning permission for a massive 120-hectare solar farm at Nineveh Farm near Nuneham Courtenay on an open and unspoilt Green Belt hillside directly facing the City. Helen Marshall, Director of CPRE Oxfordshire, said: “It’s hard to believe how a responsible local authority could have…

Image Credit: Nicola Schafer Hedgerows are in trouble. We’ve lost half of them since the Second World War, and we desperately need the government to legislate a target that reverses this trend – to kickstart the planting and restoring of hedgerows up and down the country.  That’s why this week will culminate in the hand-in of our…

The Preferred Options consultation on the Oxford Local Plan 2040 is now live and closes Monday 14 November. CPRE Oxfordshire believes this consultation is not fit for purpose.  A Local Plan’s fundamental objective is to set out the quantity and spatial distribution of proposed development – this Preferred Options consultation is completely opaque on both.…

Image credit: West Oxfordshire District Council Consultation on Proposed Main Modifications to the Submission Draft Salt CrossGarden Village Area Action Plan (AAP) is now open, closing 4th November 2022. In August Planning Inspectors ruled the Plan’s proposed policy on Net Zero Carbon Development ‘unsound’. Read more here: Salt Cross Net Zero Ambition Crushed Comments can…