Better use of land could save Green Belt at Kidlington

Fields with trees

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…

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Abingdon Reservoir & Water Consultations

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…

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Major campaign success as planning changes give more power to communities

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…

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Green Belt at Burcot Saved

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,…

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Botley West Solar Farm – where’s all the info?

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…

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Blenheim Estates Solar Farm Plans Come to Light

Solar Array

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.…

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Oxford Plan 2040 – No Green Belt Review Required

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…

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Government Investment Zones: Industrialisation of the Countryside

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:…

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Plug should be pulled on 120-hectare Green Belt solar farm

CPRE Oxfordshire is demanding that South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) revoke planning permission for a massive 120-hectare solar farm at Nineveh Farm near Nuneham Courtenay on an open and unspoilt Green Belt hillside directly facing the City. Helen Marshall, Director of CPRE Oxfordshire, said: “It’s hard to believe how a responsible local authority could have…

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National Hedgerow Week 10-17th October

Image Credit: Nicola Schafer Hedgerows are in trouble. We’ve lost half of them since the Second World War, and we desperately need the government to legislate a target that reverses this trend – to kickstart the planting and restoring of hedgerows up and down the country.  That’s why this week will culminate in the hand-in of our…

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