SPADE Newsletter No1 October 2003

Resisting Inappropriate development

in Sunningwell Parish

As many of you will have seen in the press, the County Council decided at a late stage in its revisions of the draft structure plan for Oxfordshire to include a proposal for a development in the Green belt south of Grenoble Road. A direct result of that is that Sunningwell parish is threatened with the prospect of a huge housing development. A local landowner proposes to object to the inclusion of the Grenoble Road development and to lodge a counter-proposal that would see 2000 houses built less than a field’s width from the parish’s main settlement of Sunningwell.

This newsletter has been produced by SPADE (Sunningwell Parishioners Against Damage to the Environment) a small action group that was formed as a direct result of a public meeting held in Sunningwell village hall on October 7th. Its intention is (as was strongly requested at that meeting) to provide advice to parishioners on how best to resist this development and to carry on a longer term campaign to preserve the rural and agricultural environment of the parish

What can we do to resist this development?

We need a two pronged attack, firstly we need as many parishioners as possible to respond in detail to the proposed changes in the draft county structure plan, and secondly we need a letter writing campaign, again by as many people as possible to write to the councillors and planners who make decisions on these matters.

Time is running out - Act now!

We only have until November 7th to respond to the consultations on the draft structure plan. With this in mind the action group has produced a structure plan response form which is already partly filled in with appropriate responses and can be downloaded here. All you need to do is fill in the personal details, sign the form and return it. You can also download a blank form if you wish to include your own comments here. In addition the form can be filled in on-line here.
As well as formal responses to the Draft County Structure plan it is essential to influence the views of the County Councillors who proposed the development in the Green Belt and the council planners and officers who rule on such matters. We have included below, a list of county councillors indicating which way they voted on the Grenoble road proposal. Our county Councillor, (who voted against building in the Green Belt), is Mr Bob Johnston. All Councillor’s names and addresses are on the Internet at http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/ (follow “About Your Council” “Councillors”) or you can write to each of them care of Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall, New Road, OXFORD, OX1 1SD. Councillors can be persuaded to change their minds if they understand the strength of feeling. As a result of pressure the plan can be amended at the end of the consultation period. Please write or email as many councillors as you feel able to. Short individually written letters will have more impact than a standard one. The views of individual electors carry far more weight with Councillors eager to be re-elected than any formal letter from the Parish.