Oxford's Green Belt - Latest News
CPRE welcomes Inspector's interim response to SODC's Core Strategy
5th December 2011
The Government appointed Planning Inspector, who has been examining the council’s proposed Core Strategy, has produced some draft conclusions following the hearings held at the beginning of November (issued on 30th November). These are not his final conclusions, which will be contained in a report that is not expected until next spring. Nonetheless, these draft conclusions provide a strong indication of the Inspector’s likely findings on some key areas.
CPRE welcomes the Inspector's decision not to include an allocation for 4,000 homes in the Green Belt to the south of Oxford, and his confirmation that there are insufficient grounds to change the Green Belt boundary at Wheatley.
See: SODC Core Strategy examination web page (external website)
Hearings into SODC's Core Strategy close
29th November 2011
The Examination in Public on South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC)'s Core Strategy ended on 11th November. CPRE Oxfordshire was represented at the hearings. Serious concerns were raised at the hearings that the Core Strategy did not comply with the European Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive. As a result, SODC has been given an extension within which to satisfy the Inspector that its SEA is sound.
The Inspector has indicated that he will be requiring changes to the District Council's proposed stategy, and that he still requires further evidence that the Sustainability Appraisal has been properly done. It is expected that he will issue his report before the end of the year (which may require further consultations). The Council says it currently expects to publish a modified version of its Core Strategy by April 2012.
Inspector rejects SODC's call for a Green Belt review at Wheatley
29th September 2011
The July hearings into the draft SODC Core Strategy have now been completed, and the Inspector’s report received.
In his preliminary conclusions, the Inspector has completely accepted CPRE's case that the extension of Wheatley would not only harm the Green Belt, but cause a “joining up” of a string of development from Horspath to the M40 and beyond and rejected the District Council’s proposal.
The Inspector said of the District Council’s Wheatley proposal: "The local communities understandably place significant value on the narrow breaks between these settlements, considering such gaps important contributors to their independent characters and an indicator of the Green Belt fulfilling its purpose. The implication of the CS [Core Strategy] is that Wheatley would be extended eastwards down to Wheatley Bridge, facilitated by exclusion from the Green Belt of open land to the east of the village and the outlying industrial area. This would emphasise Oxford-related ‘sprawl’ and urban encroachment into the countryside by stretching the above ‘beads’ almost as far as the M40, thereby offending two of the Green Belt’s five main purposes without justification by clear exceptional circumstances."
Helena Whall, Campaign Manager for CPRE Oxfordshire, said: “We welcome the Inspector’s decision to reject SODC’s proposal to extend Wheatley into the Green Belt, but we believe the green fields between the village and the services next the M40 remain at risk from future development. If and when the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) comes into being, with its presumption in favour of development, we are fearful that the Inspector’s decision could be overridden in favour of the District Council’s proposed extension, thereby undermining the purpose of the Green Belt.”
As far as a review of the Green Belt at Berinsfield is concerned, the Inspector said: "It is relatively unusual for a village of this size not to be inset from the Green Belt within its own defined boundaries and this factor, along with all the others discussed above, lead to the conclusion that circumstances at Berinsfield represent exceptional circumstances justifying a local green belt review not confined to drawing the boundary tightly around the existing built-up area."
Helena Whall said: “At the next stage, called ‘Site Allocations’, we will need to watch how far into the Green Belt towards Dorchester on Thames the District Council proposes to extend the village boundary, and if necessary take further action. We are concerned that while the draft NPPF is keen to see villages like Berinsfield, which are currently ‘washed over’ by the Green Belt, be ‘inset’ in the Green Belt, there is little clarity in the draft NPFF on where the new boundaries should be. As such, we could see the village of Berinsfield extended towards the village of Dorchester on Thames, thereby joining the two settlements, which is contrary to the purpose of the Green Belt. ”
See: Inspector's Report on SODC website (external website)
CPRE objects to proposals to build in Green Belt at Berinsfield and Wheatley
8th July 2011
CPRE has objected to SODC's proposals to build in the Green Belt at Berinsfield and Wheatley outlined in its Core Strategy.
SODC's Core Strategy proposes Green Belt reviews at Berinsfield and at Wheatley. The soundness of these proposals is being debated at an Examination in Public during July.
CPRE will be represented at the EiP at which we will argue that the proposals for the Green Belt reviews at Wheatley and Berinsfield are unsound in that no clearly demonstrated “exceptional circumstances” are advanced and that the evidence is flawed and unbalanced, as well as sparse.
Moreover, we will argue that the proposals for the “major developed sites” within the Green Belt need to demonstrate specific conformance to PPG2, i.e. that there will be no greater impact on the Green Belt or the purposes of including land within it than the present or former uses.
See: CPRE's response: SODC Core Strategy examination web page (external website)
Access Road to be built between Begbroke and Yarnton in the Green Belt
27th May 2011
Cherwell District Council has finally given consent to the University of Oxford to build an access road across Green Belt land between Begbroke and Yarnton, despite many years of strong opposition from CPRE and the Oxford Green Belt Network (OGNB).
The road will create a direct link between the science park at Begbroke and the A44 Woodstock Road, bringing to an end a five-year controversy about the best access route.
The university plans to move research groups out of the city to Begbroke as part of a long-term £1bn plan to expand and improve the university’s science facilities.
Work is set to begin in late July and should be completed by the end of this year.
The University has said it would be taking measures to mitigate the impact of the new road on local wildlife, with a badger tunnel and bat boxes being provided. Hedgerows will be planted alongside the road to screen it from view.
CPRE and OGBN strongly objected to this planning application since we believe the road will have a seriously adverse effect on the Green Belt, both in the short term by taking land out of accepted Green Belt use, and also in the longer term by inviting further forms of development because of the way that the road would carve up the land into developable plots.
The University challenged the proposed development at Grenoble Road in the South East Plan because its preference was to have it on its own land at Begbroke. The Inspector rejected that scheme, and it should not be revived on the back of this decision.
The whole area of land between the A44 and Kidlington is very vulnerable to development pressures, despite it serving as much valued open space for local residents and acting as an important wildlife corridor, and fulfilling the purposes for which the Green Belt was intended.
We will be urging the Council to protect this area and allow it to satisfy the purposes for which it was included in the Green Belt. And we will be scrutinising future planning applications in this area and we will object to any development that we deem inappropriate.
See: CPRE and OGBN letter to Oxford Times, 19th May (external website)
Examination into the South Oxfordshire Core Strategy
9th May 2011
The Secretary of State has appointed Mr Roy Foster MA MRTPI of the Planning Inspectorate to conduct the Examination into the South Oxfordshire Core Strategy.
The first hearing session of the examination will open at 10.00 am on Tuesday 12th July and the sessions are expected to last for three weeks.
However, the Inspector has decided to hold an Exploratory Meeting/Pre-Hearing Meeting before the hearing sessions commence. This will take place at 10.00 am on Tuesday 17th May 2011 in the Council Chamber of the Council Offices.
The purpose of the Exploratory Meeting will be to provide the Inspector with an opportunity to discuss issues about the 'soundness' of the strategy with the Council and others so that the way forward for the examination can be determined.
One of the concerns that the Inspector wants to address at the Meeting is Policy CSEN2: Green Belt. In the Inspector's letter, he asks: "Is the CS proposal for local green belt reviews at Wheatley and Berinsfield (to be taken forward in detail through the Site Allocations DPD) founded on evidence of clearly demonstrated ‘exceptional circumstances’? What is that evidence?"
CPRE will be represented at this Meeting and we will argue that there are no 'exceptional circumstances' for reviewing the Green Belt at Wheately and Berinsfield.
See: SODC Core Strategy examination web page (external website)
Slurry lagoon in Green Belt at Yarnton likely to be approved
4th March 2011
Officers at Oxfordshire County Council have recommended councillors approve the scheme for a giant slurry lagoon in the Green Belt near Yarnton, on the condition that Waste management company Agrivert contributes £17,746 to create public footpaths and cycle routes.
Agrivert wants to create a 172-metre by 60-metre basin to store waste from its £9m anaerobic digester, opened at the site last October.
The plant turns waste food into enough energy to power up to 4,500 homes and the lagoon will store the by-product to be used as fertiliser.
CPRE Oxfordshire has objected to the scheme on the grounds that the site lies within the Oxford Green Belt.
Cherwell District Council’s planning committee told the county it was opposed to the plans, warning the proposed lagoon was too close to two sites of Special Scientific Interest – Pixey and Yarnton Meads and Cassington Meadows.
Local residents have also raised concerns the development could harm the Green Belt and local wildlife, as well as smell unpleasant.
Councillors will vote on Monday 7th March.
CPRE Oxfordshire objects to proposed slurry lagoon at Worton Farm, Yarnton
January 2011
CPRE Oxfordshire has objected to the proposed slurry lagoon at Worton Farm, Yarnton, on the grounds that the site lies within the Oxford Green Belt and we believe it is inappropriate in policy terms unless there are very special circumstances. The lagoon development is large and somewhat industrial in appearance with an artificial bank and a security fence. In our view this can only reduce the openness of the Green Belt and is contrary to planning policy.
See: CPRE Oxfordshire’s letter of objection, January 2011 (PDF)
See: OGBN letter of objection, January 2011 (PDF)
First major national survey of the environmental state of Green Belt land and the benefits it provides for people and wildlife is published today by CPRE and Natural England
28th January 2010
Natural England and the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) have joined together today to publish Green Belts: a Greener Future. This is the first major national survey of the environmental state of Green Belt land, and the benefits it provides for people and wildlife. Together, Green Belts cover 13% of the land surface of England and 30 million people live in or next to a Green Belt.
New research, presented in this report, concludes that the Oxford Green Belt, established over fifty years ago, and covering 66,868 hectares, is a vital environmental asset. It is:
However, Oxford's Green Belt remains under constant threat from inappropriate development, including: the proposed urban extension into the Green Belt south of the City, for a mixed development of at least 4,000 houses; the proposed Northern Gateway scheme which could include two parcels of Green Belt land; and the proposed development of Green Belt land around Wheatley and Berinsfield in South Oxfordshire.
CPRE and Natural England have agreed a series of actions that we need to take to improve Oxford's Green Belt, through:
In a press release, issued on 28 January, Helena Whall, Campaign Manager for CPRE Oxfordshire, said: "By protecting land from development, the Oxford Green Belt has protected the setting of the historic city of Oxford and prevented the uncontrolled urban sprawl witnessed in many other cities. This report shows that the Green Belt is much more than a planning designation. It is a vital environmental resource than can help with the production of locally grown food, support wildlife and provide breathing places for city dwellers and others."
Helena Whall concluded: "The report confirms that the countryside around the city of Oxford is a vital, but fragile, environmental asset. It underpins what we at CPRE have been saying for decades – that we must continue to not only defend, but strengthen our Green Belt. We must continue to make full use of the opportunities it provides to allow people to enjoy their local countryside. We must not sacrifice the health of the city of Oxford and the surrounding environment by allowing plans to build homes in protected countryside."
See: CPRE Oxon Press Release (28 January) (PDF)
See: Full Report and Summary - Green Belts: a Greener Future
Archived News
Click below to read archived news regarding this campaign: