SPADE (Sunningwell Parishioners Against Damage to the Environment) is the Action Group of Sunningwell and Bayworth parishioners working alongside the parish council campaigning against the proposal to build up to 6000 houses on Green Belt land between Sunningwell and Bayworth and the A34.

SPADE was formed at a public meeting held on 7th October 2003, which was attended by nearly 200 local residents and our local Member of Parliament. Discussions concerned the surprise proposal by developers West Waddy ADP, acting on behalf of the local landowner, that up to 6000 houses, a park and ride scheme and a waste incineration plant be built wholly within the Green Belt, adjacent to the villages of Sunningwell and Bayworth. Whilst there was support at the meeting for the County Council’s general approach to the structure plan and the intended provision of affordable housing in any housing development, there was a unanimous belief that the proposal was merely opportunistic, seeking to cloak itself in respectability by the adoption of “eco” credentials and the inclusion of limited affordable housing.

SPADE in representing the concerns and interests of local residents, seeks to prevent this totally inappropriate and disproportionate development from being considered worthy of inclusion in future drafts of the Structure Plan.

SPADE formalised its membership and elected officers in November and soon after adopted a formal constitution .