Category: West Oxfordshire District Council
Response to the West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2041
North Leigh Parish Council responded to the West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2041 (WOLP 2041) submitting a comment on 29th November 2023.
Revised housing targets mean Council regains greater control of planning process
| Due to a revision in the way the Council’s is able to calculate housing targets, West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) can now demonstrate a ‘five-year housing land supply’ which will mean it has greater control over the planning process. |
| WODC’s adopted Local Plan recently passed its fifth anniversary and because housing policies need updating, the Council is now able to calculate its housing land supply using the Government’s alternative ‘standard method’. Carl Rylett, Executive Member for Planning and Sustainable Development stated, “This is highly significant news. We remain committed to building the right number of houses in the right places, but the fact that we have not been able to demonstrate a full five-year supply of housing sites over the last 12 months has put us at risk from speculative development in unsuitable locations. “Revising our calculation reduces this risk and allows us to concentrate on making swift progress with our new Local Plan, setting a new housing target to 2041 and identifying a pipeline of suitable sites, supported by the right investment in infrastructure.” For West Oxfordshire, this is much lower than stated in the current Local Plan. The result is that the Council can now demonstrate a 5.4-year supply of deliverable housing sites, meaning it has a greater degree of control when determining speculative planning applications for housing. |
Your Place, Your Plan – make sure you have your say
Residents in West Oxfordshire are invited to share their views on plans for the development of the District up to 2041 as the Council launches its ‘Your Place, Your Plan’ consultation.
Manor Oak Homes – Update
The application by Manor Oak Homes to build up to 43 homes at a site south of the New Yatt Road in North Leigh was refused at the West Oxfordshire District Council Lowlands Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting on 11th September 2023.
The North Leigh Parish Council Planning Committee called a meeting for residents of North Leigh in April 2023 to discuss their views on this proposal which was very well attended with more than 30 members of the public attending. Residents expressed their concerns about yet more housing being built in the village (there has been a 42% increase in housing in the last 6 years), about building at this site leading to coalescence between North Leigh and New Yatt, about the extra traffic and parking congestion, the problems with sewers, sewage treatment surface water drainage and low water pressure that would be made worse, the dangerous exit from the site and lack of pathways on the New Yatt Road, the cracking, flooding and damp problems in the adjacent Breakspear Way development and a range of other issues.
North Leigh Parish Council then filed a comment listing these objections on the West Oxfordshire District Council planning portal together with the many individual comments of residents. The application was due to be considered at a Lowlands meeting in August 2023, but the Parish Council attended to request a deferral of the decision to allow Councillors the opportunity for a site visit.
The application was then brought for consideration at the 11th September Lowlands Planning Committee meeting where the Parish Council, together with local neighbours made a strong defence against the application, representing the views of the parish residents. In the subsequent debate Ward Councillor Harry St. John, who is a member of the Lowlands Committee, spoke against the planning officer’s recommendation for approval, on the grounds that it breached a number of Policy reasons which outweighed the housing land supply factor dominating the planning officer’s thinking. Harry St. John then seconded a motion to refuse the application- the motion to refuse had 7 in favour, 3 against and 3 abstentions and so was carried.
It remains to be seen whether Manor Oak, who is a land promoter and not a house builder, appeals against this refusal or promotes their site through the Local Plan review. We must remain vigilant.
Quarry Solar Farm: 23/01524/FUL
The above planning application has been registered with West Oxfordshire District Council. Residents are welcome to comment via the link below:
North Leigh Parish Council has registered its issues with the above planning application and you can find these comments below:
North Leigh Parish Council
Response to: 23/00760/SCREEN | Screening Opinion (Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for
proposed solar farm and Battery Stations together with all associated works, equipment and
necessary infrastructure at University Farm, Hailey Witney OX29 9UH | Land (E) 436583 (N) 212489
New Yatt Oxfordshire
We note from the information supplied by the applicant in their Screen Request letter dated 23
March 2023 that the proposed route for construction traffic is via the A4095, Common Road, Park
Road and finally New Yatt Road. We also note that the applicant deems this route to be both suitable
and ideal as the roads involved utilise the shortest route from the Application Site to the Strategic
Highways Network.
North Leigh Parish Council estimates that the construction of the solar farm would generate at least
4,000 additional HGV journeys and would like to contest the suitability of the proposed route for the
following reasons.
- Common Road. This is a residential road which already experiences a significant volume of
commercial traffic. The road itself is in a poor state of repair and any increase in HGV traffic
will only serve to further its deterioration. - The junction of Park Road and New Yatt Road. This too is a residential road and at this point
there is a narrowing of the carriageway causing a pinch point which only allows for vehicles
to pass in one direction at a time. This is a dangerous section of road and any increase in
HGV traffic will only increase the risks to pedestrians and other road users. Further, there are
three domestic properties, Hill View, Paddock House and Gable Cottage, which have their
walls and foundations particularly close to the highway and might be subject to damage
resulting from both direct impact and ground vibration as a result of additional lorry
movements. - New Yatt Road from the junction of Green Lane to Masons Grove. This section of road is
particularly dangerous and has traffic calming, in the form of speed humps and a chicane, in
place. This provides for the traffic travelling west away from the centre of North Leigh to
have right of way over those entering the village. In practice these measures have been only
partially successful and, as a Parish Council, we have received a number of reports of near
misses, both vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to pedestrian. It is considered that any additional
HGV movements are likely to increase the risk of accidents occurring. - New Yatt Road from Masons Grove to New Yatt. The carriageway between these two points
is showing signs of serious deterioration with potholes, dips, damaged cambers and
collapsing road margins. More importantly this length of road does not have a footpath and
is used by parents walking their children to the village school, other pedestrians, cyclists and
horses as well as cars and HGV’s. As with the other sections of the route discussed above any
additional HGV movements are likely to increase the risk of accidents occurring.
It is the view of the Parish Council that proposed route would create unacceptable risks to other
road users as well has causing additional severe damage to the carriageways of the roads in
question. While it is understood that materials have to be delivered to the construction site the
Parish Council believes that directing HGVs via the B4022 would prove to be a safer and more
suitable route.
In addition to our comments on HGV traffic, North Leigh Parish Council also opposes a solar park at
this location. This will have a severe impact on the views of from the New Yatt Road and Footpath
15 and will require new site roads to be built in this area also which will cause disruption. Biodiversity concerns seem to have been addressed in a very superficial way. In addition North Leigh is currently under threat from the enormous Botley West Solar Farm (apparently the 4th largest in the world) to the other side of our village, this will literally result in North Leigh becoming an island surrounded by solar parks. It is clearly not appropriate that WODC views each one on a case by case basis without considering the impact as a whole on a small rural village such as ours. - Due to having solar panels in fields immediately adjacent to either side of the road.
- It being most likely that all construction traffic will be using the New Yatt Road via
North Leigh and New Yatt.
Greenlight
Greenlight is a dynamic nature and climate online hub that provides a space where the local community can connect, collaborate and take action for a greener future.
The first four elements of the platform are:
- Greenspace ‘show and tell’: an engagement activity to share what people have been doing for nature and wildlife in their gardens and local greenspaces in July and August.
- Ask a question: a community forum to ask for advice, support, or ideas.
- Events and activities: a space to share and view upcoming events in the district related to climate, biodiversity and the environment.
- Meet your local groups: a map of local climate and environmental groups, as well as town and parish councils.
Additional elements will be added as the platform evolves, including a ‘library’ of resources in the next few months.
The link to sign up is here: https://yourvoice.westoxon.gov.uk/en-GB/folders/greenlight.
Market Town Study – Have Your Say!
West Oxfordshire District Council have commissioned town regeneration experts, Heartflood Ltd, to carry out an independent study looking at ways in which we can support the market towns in the district. We have a limited amount of funding available through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) and the study’s findings will help us to target that effectively. Gathering the views of the public, businesses and other town organisations is a really important aspect of this work and
Surveys for all of the towns can be found here: https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/spf
The survey closes on the 31st May.
Council introduces new four year plan to improve West Oxfordshire
West Oxfordshire District Council has updated its four year plan which sets out how the Council will deliver for residents and what it will be focussing on to improve West Oxfordshire.
Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council, said; “We are clear that this council is your council as the residents of West Oxfordshire.
“We have set some ambitious goals for the Council to tackle the challenges we face, improve our district and support our communities and businesses through our new Council Plan.
“As part of our commitment to putting residents first we asked people last year what mattered most to them. We received very useful feedback and this plan is shaped around the responses we got so that residents are guiding our work.
“This plan will guide us over the coming years to make sure we are focussed on the key issues for the area whether that be supporting individuals and communities, building our local economy, tackling the climate and ecological emergency or improving the services you rely on.
“We are already working on these goals and as part of our push to be open and transparent we will regularly report back on our progress to residents.
“We live in a fantastic area with so many opportunities and as your local council we believe we can continue to work with residents and other partners to make it even better. This plan sets the foundations for us to build on as a community in West Oxfordshire”
The Council approved the new Council Plan at their meeting on 18 January and it has been published on the Council’s website for residents to view.
The plan focuses on five priorities of equal importance which will guide the Council’s work over the coming years:
- Putting Residents First
- Enabling a Good Quality of Life for All
- Creating a Better Environment for People and Wildlife
- Responding to the Climate and Ecological Emergency
- Working Together for West Oxfordshire
Under each priority is a set of actions which are based on the feedback from residents gathered in a consultation during Summer 2022. The quotes from the feedback are included throughout the document, showing where residents have influenced the Council’s plans for the future.
The Council will be setting an action plan to deliver on the ambitious goals and will report back on progress at regular intervals to the public.
Food waste recycling – free food caddy liners
The waste team at West Oxfordshire District Council recently ran a campaign to support residents to recycle more of the their food waste over the festive period. North Leigh Library will continue to give these out while stocks last. Please do help yourselves!