Local communities will take strong message to Inspector on need to protect rural Vale
16th September 2015
With an Inspector due to start looking at the Vale of White Horse District’s draft Local Plan next week, Parish Councils and community groups have shared concerns on housing, employment and infrastructure proposals.
At a meeting facilitated by CPRE Oxfordshire, there was consensus amongst those present that the Vale’s draft Local Plan is based on an overall housing requirement which is far too high, impossible to deliver, unsustainable and damaging to the rural character of the county.
The Local Plan will be examined by an Inspector at an Initial Hearings to begin on Tuedsay 22 September, at the Beacon, Wantage.
Representatives at the meeting considered professional analyses which demonstrated that the economic assumptions behind the housing figures, such as employment forecasts, were mistaken.
There were also worries that the county’s infrastructure, especially its roads, many of which are already at or near capacity, could not accommodate such aggressive growth, without significant improvement, to which there is no commitment.
Peter Collins, Chairman of CPRE Vale of White Horse District, said: “Between us, we will be giving the Inspector a very clear and consistent message about our concerns on housing numbers, economic projections and infrastructure.”
The meeting was attended by representatives from the following parish councils: Chilton, Cumnor, Drayton, East Hendred and Harwell.
Local action/campaign groups included CPRE Oxfordshire, Keep Harwell Rural, North Abingdon Local Plan Group, Sunningwell Parishioners against Damage to the Environment (SPADE), Wantage and Grove Campaign Group and Western Vale Villages Consortium.
Find out more:
See the Press Release, 17 September (see below).
See all the ‘Written Statements’ by participants attending the initial Hearings on the Vale of White Horse website.
See the ‘Matters and Questions’ for discussion and the ‘Programme’ for the Hearing Sessions on the Vale of White Horse website.
See CPRE Oxfordshire Hearing Statement, 15 August (see below).
CPRE Oxfordshire, 17 September
CPRE_Oxfordshire_Hearing_Statement_Aug_15_FINAL.pdf
CPRE_Oxon_Press_Release_-_Local_communities_will_take_strong_message_to_Inspector_on_need_to_protect_rural_Vale_-_17_September_2015_-_FINAL.pdf