In October, Residents of Sunningwell Parish were shocked to hear of a proposal to build between 2000 and 6000 houses, a waste incineration plant and a park and ride car park on green belt land between Sunningwell and the A34. The proposal, known as 'Penbridge' arose as part of the consultation process for the County Council Structure Plan. A public meeting was held and SPADE was formed to lead action to object to the proposal. Our first phase of activity co-ordinated the return in November, of over 400 responses to the Structure Plan, objecting to the threat to the
green belt, and the excessive burden such an inappropriate development would place on local communities, the infrastructure and the environment.

We have now been able to analyse the response to the structure plan by the landowner, Ted Wilcox, and to our surprise it now encompasses not just a strip of land adjacent to the A34, but all the fields from the Kennington Road, to Bayworth, surrounding Sunningwell, behind Long Furlong and Whitecross, and up to Fox Lane. So far, time has not been on our side and SPADE has had to concentrate its efforts in the Sunningwell Parish. However, many people from the wider area have expressed their concerns to us and their desire to join in with action to fight this outrageous proposal.

Whilst SPADE supports the Structure Plan’s requirement to provide affordable housing as this is a particular need, we feel strongly that this proposal is not the way nor the location to provide it. This is merely a cynical and opportunistic attempt to bust the Green Belt on the back of the Council’s policy to build just 1000 houses at Grenoble Road in Oxford. The Vale’s requirement for housing is met already in the plan. 6000 houses is half the size of Peachcroft and would effectively link up Abingdon, Shippon, Sunningwell, Bayworth, Wooton, Whitecross, Kennington and Boar’s Hill – providing a ribbon of development from Shippon to Oxford - the very thing that the Green Belt was set up to prevent. It would put immense pressure on local services, transport and the environment – you can imagine the effect on the traffic on the A34 for yourself.

‘Penbridge’ is trumpeted as an ‘eco’ village – this ‘spin’ sounds very nice but ignores that a development on this scale is the size of a small town and would dramatically impact the environment in an area of outstanding landscape value, the huge volume of waste which would need to be brought TO the incineration site to keep such a facility going, and the amount of journeys generated INTO the already overburdened transport network by the park and ride.

The SPIN

The REALITY:

What can you do?

Help us with lobbying. Councillors will be reviewing the responses to the structure plan in the early Spring of 2004 and we need as many people as possible to lobby all levels of local government. We will be issuing guidance on this in the new year. Look at our web site www.sunningwell.org for details

Fundraising. We need your money! SPADE will represent local views at the examination in public (the next phase of the structure plan consultation) in late spring and we will need professional advice which will be costly.

Your skills. Do you have skills which would help us in any way? Are you a planning expert? Can you help with delivering newsletters?

Your support. SPADE and Sunningwell Parish Council are jointly holding a public meeting on 7th January to discuss the issue. Please put the date in your diary and come along to find out more, and join with us.

THIS THREAT IS REAL - IF IT WERE TO HAPPEN IT WOULD HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON US ALL. WE NEED TO ACT TOGETHER, NOW TO RESIST THIS OUTRAGEOUS PROPOSAL FOR A HUGE DEVELOPMENT IN OUR RURAL ENVIRONMENT

What are SPADE doing now?

• Analysing the Wilcox proposal (see the "penbridge" proposal and village noticeboards for a copy of the proposal)
• Examining and responding to the Highways Agency Route Management Strategy for the A34 including the policies which would affect the Wilcox proposal. Copies of the response leaflet are available from SPADE and in local libraries.
• Networking with other groups to co-ordinate campaigns
• Preparing guidance for the letter writing and lobbying campaign ( for launch in Jan – March 2004)
• Fundraising – we will be seeking your support
• Preparing for the Structure Plan “Examination in Public” in Spring 2004

If you have any questions or would like to volunteer ideas or assistance of any kind please contact us