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Newsletter 8 August 2022

Dear [Forename]

Just three pieces of news for now.

  1. Oxfordshire 2050 Plan is dead.
    The City and District Councillors in the Future Oxfordshire Partnership (FOP) were working with the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) to produce a growth framework for Oxfordshire but have been unable to agree on the approach to planning for future housing. So they will no longer produce a County-wide Plan.
    The FOP has recently issued a news update which includes the statement that:
    ‘The issues of housing needs will now be addressed through individual Local Plans for each of the City and Districts. The Councils will cooperate with each other and with other key bodies as they prepare their Local Plans.’
    The Plan has absorbed a great deal of time and effort,and a great deal of public money (reportedly £2.5m) and might have come up with useful county-wide policies relating to climate change.
    Let's hope that the plans produced by the individual districts don't use the spurious housing numbers produced in the Oxfordshire Growth Needs Assessment (OGNA) and use analysis which follows government guidance, is transparent, reflects the challenges faced in the real world, and on which we all get to comment before the Local Plan is produced. See one of our herald columns for details of a critical review of the OGNA.
    We'll now have to hope that we get a statement from the Vale District Council about how they plan to approach this.
  2. The Lidl application will be decided at a planning meeting next Wednesday.
    The meeting will start at 7pm at Vale of White Horse District Council, 135 Milton Park, Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Milton, OX14 4SB.
    The officer's recommendation to the Committee is to refuse planning permission.
    You can see a copy of the officer's report on www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk by clicking on the link below.
    http://democratic.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=102
    Planning committee meetings are held in-person to comply with the government requirements but this meeting will also be screened live via the Council's YouTube channel and recorded in order that you can view it at a time to suit you, rather than needing to attend the meeting.
    If you wish to attend in person, the following instructions come from the Council:
    Please report to 135 Milton Park just before 7pm and one of the Council's marshals will assist you.
    Please note the following:
    - You are advised to wear a face mask when entering the building.
    - You will need to bring a portable device such as a laptop or tablet.
    - You will also need to bring a headset / headphones. This is because our meetings are being streamed through Microsoft teams.
    - You will need to join the Microsoft Teams meeting when this item is being considered by the Committee.

  3. The Tulwick Park application was refused at the last Planning Committee on 27th July.
    To see the discussion on the Council's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqTXw8Tvy8s
    The reasons for refusal included:
  • This is an unallocated site beyond the built-up area of Grove and the proposal would extend development onto land forming part of the wider open countryside.
  • The site is located beyond the eastern extent of Grove, in an intact part of the wider rural landscape, highly visible from public viewpoints and would adversely impact the quality of the landscape.

Finally roadworks - don't forget that you can check for any road works which may delay your journey at https://one.network/

Thanks for reading.

Best wishes
Julie

Julie Mabberley
Campaign Manager

Wantage and Grove Campaign Group
www.wantageandgrove.org

https://www.facebook.com/groups/wantageandgrovecampaigngroup


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