Woodstock fight for playing field

Woodstock residents are fighting to protect one of the town’s few accessible green spaces from a new housing development.

 

CPRE Oxfordshire members, the Woodstock Action Group, have been dismayed by a planning application for 64 houses on the former Marlborough School playing field.

Over 700 local residents have signed a petition against the development put forward by Pye Homes and the Blenheim Estate Consortium, which would destroy one of the few remaining open spaces left in Woodstock.

CPRE West Oxfordshire Chairman Gareth Hammond has described the proposals as ‘a prime example of urban creep into our precious countryside’.

Why is this a bad proposal?

– The site is not allocated for development in West Oxfordshire District Council’s draft Local Plan.  

– It would destroy hedgerows of high habitat value

– It would create traffic problems, including risks to children walking to the two nearby schools

– The site is remote from the centre of the town, with poor public transport links, making it car-dependent and unsustainable.

– It represents urban sprawl into a valuable recreational space.

 

Please support the people of Woodstock and register your objection to this application.

Link to the planning application – Ref No: 13/0982/P/FP

Comments should be sent to Jon Westerman, Planning Case Officer at West Oxfordshire District Council – E: jon.westerman@westoxon.gov.uk or in writing to: Head of Planning Services, West Oxfordshire District Council, Elmfield, New Yatt Road, Witney OX28 1PB

Target decision date is 7 October, so speed is of the essence!