Posts by Nemone Caldwell

Community football pitches at Stratfield Brake CPRE Cherwell objects just as strongly to the proposals to build a new stadium on an alternative piece of Green Belt land as we did to the original plan to build at Stratfield Brake.  It seems that the labyrinthine process by which one proposal has been superseded by the…

Dark starry skies are a beautiful sight, and a distinctive feature of the countryside. But too often, light pollution means that many of us can’t see the stars. To celebrate our starry skies and to help to protect and improve our view of the stars we are inviting the nation to be ‘citizen scientists’ and…

Image credit: Kidlington Development Watch CPRE Oxfordshire understands the Cherwell District Council Executive will be meeting to consider the Draft Cherwell Local Plan at a special meeting on 19th January and has written to request that the proposed allocation of 300 houses in the Green Belt at Kidlington (Land North of the Moors, LPR8A) is…

Thames Water has launched a consultation on its draft Water Resources Management Plan 2024, setting out its proposals for dealing with future water supply needs.Read more on the Thames Water website. Consultation runs until 21 March 2023. To provide further information a series of Community Information Events have been planned: and Information ‘Pop up’ events will…

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:…