Neighbourhood Planning

Neighbourhood Planning Briefing Event

The Localism Act 2011 has introduced new powers for local people to help shape the places in which they live.  The Act is a central pillar of the government’s new approach to empowering local communities and encouraging more collaborative working with local authorities. One of the most important changes is the introduction of neighbourhood planning.

To further explain the benefits of collaborative working and the neighbourhood planning process, South Oxfordshire District Council and the Vale of White Horse District Council are organising an event for our town and parish councils across the two districts.

The purpose of the event will be to:

  • provide information to town and parish councils on neighbourhood planning in light of the new regulations and the National Planning Policy Framework;
  • place neighbourhood planning in context, alongside other forms of community led planning and policy work undertaken by South Oxfordshire District Council; and
  • gauge the level of interest of town and parish councils in neighbourhood planning.

The event will be held:  Time: 6 – 8.00pm   Date: Monday 16 July 2012   Venue: Guildhall, Abingdon

It will take the form of a short presentation given by council officers followed by a breakout discussion session on the issues in your local area and how these might relate to neighbourhood planning.  Oxfordshire Rural Community Council will also be in attendance to give further support and guidance on their role in community led planning.

Westway Development – Pre-consulation meeting

Matt Prosser, Strategic Director for Vale of White Horse District Council, spoke to about  150 local residents and traders in a public ‘pre-consultation update’ about Westway Centre redevelopment on 29 Feb 2012.

Several current property owners, including the Vale, have formed a consortium to sell their land to a developer. The site for sale comprises the vacant Grant Thornton building, the building housing NatWest, cleaners, library and Elms Court flats, Seacourt Hall, Botley Baptist church, the car park and part of the Coop. The sale will generate a capital receipt, part of which is intended to fund the refurbishment of the main precinct.

Most of the meeting was a question and answer session. Here are some highlights:

Tony Wood, local resident and business owner, asked if it was certain to be retail space. Matt said  yes, it’s likely to be a combination of retail, residential and car parking, but there are no definite plans yet.  It’s also part of the plan to provide a community hall and a library.

Mike Sage, chairman of the successful Save Botley Library campaign, asked for assurance that the Vale was working as hard as possible to ensure the library will stay in the centre of Botley. Matt told us that the library is a county responsibility, that the county has stated their intention for the library to stay, and that the Vale are in close communication with county officers on this issue.

County Cllr Janet Godden asked what could be done to minimise vacancies and keep the community ticking over during this period of change. Matt said they will keep rents attractive and allow short term leases.

Some people were puzzled about why this meeting at this time, and commented that it seemed premature as there are no plans to comment on. Matt said, ‘We came at the invitation of North Hinksey parish council to hear what your concerns are.’

The timescale is estimated to be 2 to 4 years. The next step is for the developers to submit a proposal, after which there will be a public consultation. Then will come a formal planning application and another consultation. Matt Prosser said he hopes there will be a planning application by the end of this year.

Online consultation is open now through the 5th of April for the initial gathering of comments. See the consultation and background information at: http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/about-us/tell-us-what-you-think/current-consultations/westway-area-development

Reprieve for petrol station?

Word from the Vale’s planning officers is that the Seacourt Retail Park redevelopment is proceeding along the lines of an earlier application, approved in 2008, rather than the newer 2010 application that was met with so many objections to the closure of the last petrol station in the area.

The project will see three stores (those once occupied by Allied Carpets and Habitat, plus Homebase) re-vamped and sub-divided into seven stores. It has minor car park changes, but keeps the same overall footprint and traffic flow. The really good news is that they have no plans to close the petrol station.

The approved plans can be seen on the Vale’s planning portal http://bit.ly/wOOSoh).

Vale House change of use Planning Application withdrawn

After my urging for the owners of Vale House to hold an open community meeting about their planned changes, Ede Builders and Botley Alzheimers Home hosted a Q&A session on 2 Dec 2011. It was well-attended by members of the community, as well as community leaders:  I spotted county councillor Janet Godden, district councillors Eric Batts and  John Woodford, a Cumnor parish councillor, but I didn’t see any North Hinksey parish councillors.

The atmosphere was somewhat heated, as many people expressed their strong concerns and fears about the intended use of the building as an HMO. Most of these concerns can also be seen in the letters posted on the Vale website.

On the 9th of December 2011, Ede withdrew their application. Their withdrawal letter, which can be viewed on the planning web page,  http://bit.ly/sYfMne , says they plan to re-submit quickly, and that they’re likely to request permission to convert to flats.

Once a new Planning Application is received, I’ll post details on this site, on the page called Planning Applications.

Planning Applications – introduction

Many residents want to know about planning applications under consideration for properties in their area.

From today, I’ll post planning application information when I receive it.

There’s a spearate page for Planning Applications. In the cntre column, under What’s Inside, see Planning Applications.

If you have comments or objections to what is being planned, they must be received by the Vale within that period. More info on how to submit comments is very clearly displayed on the Vale website (using the link inside each area).

I’ll review these Planning Applications postings periodically and take them down after the decision has been made by the Vale Planning department.

Please let me know if you’d like to see anything else.

Botley Drainage Work

The Vale of White Horse district council has welcomed plans from Thames Water to start work improving the drainage problems in Cumnor Hill and Botley.

Thames Water has written to the council to outline its plans to carry out work to upgrade the sewerage system in Botley. This work is due to start in January 2012 and should be completed by the end of next year.

This also means that planning applications, which have been on hold because of the sewerage problems, can be determined now that the drainage improvement works is due to start.

Since October 2007, the council has been unable to permit any planning applications for new housing in the OX2 0, OX2 9 or OX1 5 postcode areas because of a holding objection raised by Thames Water due to the ongoing drainage problems.

Thames Water has confirmed that as the planned work will be carried out shortly, it has no objection to the council permitting applications for new housing in the area subject to a condition being imposed on planning permissions stipulating that no new houses can be occupied until the drainage improvement works have been completed.

For more info, to ask questions or voice your concern, contact Stuart Walker
(01235) 540505 stuart.walker@southandvale.gov.uk