CPRE Oxfordshire Voice - Spring 2014

Spring 2014

Oxfordshire www.cpreoxon.org.uk

voice

‘Staggering’ New housing figures for Oxfordshire 37% growth in 17 years

Farming The cost of flooding and fixing the damage

Great Haseley The story of a windmill restoration

OXFORDSHIRE

Voice Spring 2014

Features 3 Port Meadow latest 4 Minerals update 5 Gavray Meadows threat 6 ‘Staggering’ housing figures 8 Farming and flooding 9 Great Haseley windmill restored

DIRECTORY Views expressed in the Voice are not necessarily those of CPRE Oxfordshire, which welcomes independent comment.

Editor: Jane Tomlinson Cover illustration: Rob Bowker, with acknowledgements to many property websites Articles, letters, comments and suggestions for articles are welcome. Please contact the Branch Office below.

Published May 2014 District Chairmen CPRE Oxfordshire Branch Brian Wood 01869 337904 Brianwood77@aol.com Banbury: Chris Hone 01295 265379 Bicester: Bruce Tremayne 01865 331289 b.a.tremayne@gmail.com Henley & Mapledurham: Judith Crockett 01491 612801. judith.crockett@btinternet.com Oxford: Sietske Boeles 01865 728153 sietske.boeles@ntlworld.com Thame & Bullingdon: Michael Tyce 01844 339274 tycehouse@gmail.com Vale of White Horse: Peter Collins St Edmund Hall, Oxford OX1 4AR Wallingford: Arnold Grayson 01491 837193 ArnoldGrayson@aol.com West Oxfordshire: Gareth Hammond 01993 881016 gareth.hammond@talktalk.net Branch Office CPRE Oxfordshire, Unit 1, London Road, Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1JH (Registered office) T: 01865 874780 E: administrator@cpreoxon.org.uk

www.cpreoxon.org.uk Follow us on Twitter @CPREOxfordshire and like us on www.facebook.com/CPREOxfordshire CPRE Oxfordshire is registered in England as Charity No.1093081 and Company No. 4443278.

2

Chairman’s voice I said last time that some of our worst forebodings about the NPPF (the revised national planning rules) were being realised. This time I have to tell you that the situation has got worse.

Districts are not able to refuse planning applications for housing unless they can show that they have a deliverable five year housing supply. If they do not have such a supply the inspector at appeal can overrule the district and allow the application to go ahead. This has recently happened in Deddington, where there was much local objection to an application to build 85 houses in the village against the wishes of the Parish Council and the District Council.

Now that it has become clear that an appeal in such a case will be allowed by the Inspector, it is unlikely that the District will run the risk and expense of such an appeal in future.

What has now made the situation much worse is that the officially objective Strategic Housing Market Assessment has suggested that Oxfordshire needs 100,000 more houses by 2031 up from a previous estimate of 54,700. And the government would like these figures to

be used in the calculations for the five year supply.

The adopted core strategy for Oxford City settled, after much discussion, on 8,000 houses by 2026. The new proposed figure for 2031 is 28,000.

Vale of White Horse is facing a 40% increase in the number of houses it is expected to build.

Some of this incredible increase is as a result of the plans of the Local Enterprise Partnership. While we agree in principle with the aim to develop Oxfordshire’s world class technology clusters, it seems a very large step too far forward to create at least 85,000 new jobs by 2030.

Some of these plans are so staggering that we do not think they are feasible, but they will be used as the basis for planning decisions in the future. See pages 6-8 for more.

We are increasing our capability at Oxfordshire CPRE to be able to oppose these suggestions. Please help us wherever you can with local councillors and anyone else you know making it clear that while we want a thriving community, these plans are totally unreasonable and will destroy the green and pleasant land we are so privileged to live in.

Brian Wood Chairman, CPRE Oxfordshire

A guide to community planning Our colleagues at the CPRE Gloucestershire branch have recently updated their guide to community planning Planning and localism: choices and choosing. The guide was originally published in 2012 and aimed to help communities, local authorities and others understand their options and select the most appropriate approach to community-led planning. Since its publication the area of community-led planning has continued to evolve and a revised version of the guide is now available. It provides an excellent, clear but comprehensive picture of the different planning tools available to local communities and explains the advantages and disadvantages of following different approaches, with some helpful case studies to illustrate various scenarios. www.cpreglos.org.uk/resources/item/2175-planning-and-localism-choices-andchoosing or T: 01452 309 783

CPRE Oxfordshire voice Spring 2014

Port Meadow: ‘the most effective and professional campaign Oxford has seen’ The Oxford University accommodation blocks are still blighting the view at Port Meadow, but the fight to have them lowered continues.

The next step is for the University to come forward with its Environmental Statement. The initial scoping report for this came out late in 2013 but we felt it was totally inadequate as it failed to consider heritage impacts, the full zone of visual influence, noise and light pollution and other significant impacts. The University has now appointed a different consultancy and we hope a more constructive dialogue may be possible about all the issues which need to be considered.

Any discussion on mitigation will

have to wait until the impacts of the development are fully understood.

We will be holding Oxford City Council to its promise of full consultation on the Environment Statement when it is published. Watch this space!

Meanwhile, you can bask in the joy of knowing that (off the record!) councillors consider this ‘the most effective and professional campaign Oxford has seen’.

Take Action You have been very generous so far, but we still need funds to cover continuing legal and professional advice. Please help if you can: www.justgiving.com/ portmeadow or send a cheque to CPRE Oxfordshire (Port Meadow Appeal) to the branch office.

Thank you.

Join the debate. Join the campaign. Join CPRE

3

Minerals policy: the story so far

by Arnold Grayson, CPRE Minerals Consultant & Chairman, CPRE Wallingford The County Council is responsible for policy on minerals extraction, and is subject to Government guidance and an inspector’s enquiry to see that the plan conforms with national policy. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is very bossy: ‘local planning authorities should give great weight to the benefits of mineral extraction, including to the economy’. In other words, don’t mess with gravel production. The main concerns of policy are how much and where.

From 1994 to 2001 sharp sand sales in Oxfordshire were broadly constant at 1,600,000 -1,800,000 tonnes per annum (tpa). Since 2001 they have declined steadily, with a slight resurgence in 2012 to 550,000t. Soft sand sales were broadly constant at 250,000 tpa until 2002 since when they have fallen steadily with a slight upward blip in 2011 and sales of 155,000t in 2012. The decline in production in Oxfordshire since 2001 has been relatively much greater than for England as a whole. The main reason has been the mothballing of quarries working sharp sand.

Timeline of the Council’s development of policy Summer 2010: Mr Hudspeth, then the Council’s cabinet member for minerals, tells the minister Greg Clark, that the target proposed for sand and gravel production at 1.82Mtpa is unacceptably high.

Reply: if the county can provide a ‘robust evidence base for a different figure’ that would be fine.

Sept 2010: Mr Hudspeth invites CPRE to lead group of environmental campaigners to be consulted on policy, and a group of quarry operators to represent views of mineral industry.

Nov 2010: the Council asks their favourite contractor Atkins to provide ‘robust evidence’.

Jan 2011: Atkins reports and the Council decides quantities of minerals to be supplied.

2011: public consultation on proposed strategy.

April 2012: strategy formulated for 1.01Mtpa and 0.25Mtpa for sharp and soft sand respectively. Full Council meeting urged by one witness to put the decision on hold until a legal view of the guidelines could be taken. Council ignores this advice and approves the strategy for submission to government.

October 2012 – Feb 2013: Inspector makes it abundantly clear that

non-conformity doesn’t pay and reminds Council that NPPF calls for ‘an annual aggregates assessment… based on a rolling average of 10 years sales data and other relevant local information’. He expresses concern over whether the council had met its duty to co-operate with neighbours.

2013: Council commissions Atkins to make another assessment, report issued June.

August 2013: Council revokes policy.

Sept 2013: Enviro group reviews second Atkins report and questions methods and asks why the NPPF guidance was not followed; group commissions own study. Resulting report makes clear that NPPF should be followed.

Feb 2014: The Council reflects this, revises policy accordingly.

Strategy document now under consultation Provision for supply of aggregates, based on average of the latest 10 years’ sales, 0.81Mt of sharp sand and 0.19Mt of soft sand. (The average for 20042013 is liable to be as low as 0.75Mtpa of sharp sand, cf. production of 0.55Mt of sharp sand in 2012.) A balance is proposed between production in west and south Oxfordshire. Cholsey is let off the hook, while a planning blight has been cast over the whole Thames valley south of Oxford.

Keep up to date via www.oxfordshire.gov.uk or www.cpreoxon.org.uk

4

CPRE Oxfordshire voice Spring 2014

Wildlife-rich Gavray Meadows under threat

Northern Gateway Welcome to Oxford

by Pam Roberts and Pat Clissold, Campaign to Save Gavray Meadows

The Northern Gateway is the area of Oxford City between the Pear Tree and Wolvercote roundabouts, adjacent to the A40 and A44. The site was allocated for development in the Oxford City Core Strategy and earlier this year, the City Council consulted on an Options document for the Area Action Plan.

Although Bicester is the fastest growing town in Europe, it still retains an oasis bounded by ancient hedgerows called Gavray Meadows.

This Local Wildlife Site alongside Langford Brook and the LondonBirmingham railway is notable for its species-rich wet meadowland derived from centuries of traditional grazing.

Such traditional hay-meadows are now extremely rare in the UK as 97% have been destroyed since the 1930s by urban development, drainage and intensive farming (data from BBOWT).

Gavray Meadows are particularly important as they are only one of four sites that support four different species of the rare hairstreak butterfly and a fifth was recorded there within the last five years (data from Butterfly Conservation). The Meadows support populations of other butterflies and moths and the wild flowers that they depend on, as well as lizards, toads, snakes, bats, birds, dormice, hares and great-crested newts. Many of these species have legal protection because they are endangered.

The site connects with a larger Conservation Target Area to the East which forms part of BBOWT’s River Ray Living Landscape Project. The Meadows

are part of a wildlife corridor between the town and countryside. The site has been neglected for more than a decade and needs careful management.

However it is now threatened by preliminary plans for about 300 houses.

Until very recently, Bicester residents were unaware of Gavray Meadows Local Wildlife Site because it was on private land, hidden behind tall ancient hedges. Consequently there was no objection to the original plans for building houses on it submitted some years ago. Since last year a campaign, Save Gavray Wildlife Meadows, has been set up, and is looking for funding and support.

Campaigners have already collected more than 1,200 signatures, written articles, sent letters to councillors and MP Sir Tony Baldry. The campaign is beginning to bear fruit as Bicester Town Planning Committee recently voted against the housing shown in the developer’s scoping report.

Take Action Find out how you can support Save Gavray Wildlife Meadows at www.facebook.com/ savegavraywildlifemeadows

Join the debate. Join the campaign. Join CPRE

CPRE has always been concerned about this site as it will impact significantly on the Green Belt and Port Meadow. The site includes two areas of Green Belt and there is also a proposed link road, across Green Belt land, from the A40 to A44. There is no evidence that this would help reduce congestion and in fact it is likely to add to traffic build-up in Kidlington and Gosford.

CPRE is also concerned about the effects of pollution on local people and wildlife sites and the threat to the hydrology of Port Meadow.

We think this consultation was highly premature. It failed to include up to date transport figures, including analysis of latest commuter patterns and the impact of Water Eaton Station and Park & Ride. It failed to provide current air quality statistics. There was no up-to-date Habitat Regulations Assessment. There was no clear evidence on the cost of the required infrastructure or where the funding would come from.

All in all there was very little to go on to make any informed decisions. We have asked the City Council to re-run the consultation when more detail is available and wait to hear their response.

5

‘Staggering’ Oxfordshire housing figures New research has suggested that Oxfordshire needs 100,060 more houses by 2031, up from a previous estimate of 54,700. The housing figures have been proposed in the Oxfordshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA), this would increase Oxfordshire’s housing by 37%, from 272,000 to 372,060, in less than 20 years and put enormous pressure on local communities and the countryside, including the Green Belt and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This is the equivalent of every settlement in Oxfordshire increasing in size by a third!

Imagine each and every settlement in Oxfordshire growing by a third – that’s what is proposed!

The Oxfordshire SHMA targets: • Oxford City Council – 28,000 by 2031 (currently 8,000 by 2026) • South Oxfordshire District Council – 15,500 by 2031 (currently 11,487 by 2027) • Vale of White Horse – 20,560 by 2031 (the draft Local Plan 2013 said just over 13,000) • West Oxfordshire District Council – 13,200 by 2031 (the draft Local Plan proposed 5,500 by 2029)

CPRE Oxfordshire Director Helen Marshall said: “To plan to increase Oxfordshire’s housing by over a third within 20 years is just madness. Most communities would consider accepting gradual and manageable growth. However, we all know the pressure that our local schools, hospitals, roads and other services are under and land is one of our most precious resources.”

To understand what’s going on you need to understand who and what is driving it.

• The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is a business-led initiative responsible for ‘championing and developing the Oxfordshire

The road ahead: ordinary farmland like this in west Oxfordshire is under threat throughout the county.

6

economy’ according to their website. Led by executives from the private sector, the partnership also includes senior academic figures and representatives from the local authorities.

• The Oxfordshire Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) is being developed by the LEP and sets out how the county will grow and prosper in the medium to long term.

The SEP will determine how much of the national £2 billion Single Local Growth Fund will come to Oxfordshire.

• Cherwell District Council – 22,800 by 2031 (the draft Local Plan proposes 16,750) • Oxfordshire – 100,060 by 2031 (up from 54,700)

Threats to the Green Belt We fear that adopting the SHMA targets will unleash a wave of development on the Green Belt and swamp many of the City’s nearby towns and villages including Kidlington and Woodstock, Radley and Abingdon and the Baldons and Horspath.

It would effectively mean the end of a functioning Green Belt.

• The Oxford City Deal is a Government initiative to provide funding and enhanced decision-making powers in Oxfordshire, in return for commitments to development, including a ‘knowledgebased economy’. Millions of pounds are available to for infrastructure projects to boost the economy. Oxfordshire County Council’s (OCC) explanatory briefing on the City Deal is here: www.tinyurl.com/CityDealBriefing

It’s a scheme like the ‘Greater Oxford’ proposal that was rejected by the Boundary Commission over 30 years ago but now seems to be getting re-introduced piece by piece. It already appears to be factored in to the County’s transport vision with proposals such as opening up a passenger railway to Cowley and a tram from St Giles to Begbroke with connections to London Oxford airport.

• A Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) is required by the county as part of the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). A SHMA requires planning authorities to use valid evidence to ensure that their Local Plans have objectively assessed the need for housing in the area.

Oxfordshire’s was published in March 2014 and makes terrifying reading.

Planning Minister Nick Boles recently re-affirmed Green Belt protection, noting that unmet housing need is unlikely to outweigh harm to the Green Belt and other harm to constitute very special circumstances justifying inappropriate development. We can only hope this is true, but the evidence from the Vale is that attacks on Green Belt land are already well under way (see opposite).

CPRE Oxfordshire voice Spring 2014

Unsound, unachievable and unwanted

TAKE ACTION This is one of the most serious threats to face the Oxfordshire countryside in recent years and we urgently need your help. CPRE Oxfordshire is challenging the SHMA findings and asking District Councils not to rush ahead and accept the proposed figures as housing targets. Please write to your District Council to share our concerns. And see our website for latest news on this campaign and how you can get involved.

CPRE Oxfordshire believes the SHMA figures are unsound, unachievable and unwanted and has urged District Councils to consider all the evidence very carefully before taking any steps to adopt these figures as targets.

Unsound There are real questions about many of the assumptions made within the SHMA methodology. For example, the employment projections are based on the ambitions of the draft Oxfordshire Strategic Economic Plan which says it will create 85,000 jobs in the county by 2030. However, this is highly speculative and there appears to be no plan B for what happens if these jobs fail to materialise.

The suggested housing figures for Oxford City itself are particularly questionable as the SHMA has developed a ‘bespoke projection’ for the City’s population growth.

This appears to allow for roughly a 50% rise in Oxford’s permanent population by 2031 (excluding students.)

“We are being set up to fail. District Councils are struggling to meet existing targets.”

Where is the evidence that such targets could be achieved in a sustainable way, without damaging our local environment and overwhelming our infrastructure?

The SHMA itself does not consider such issues. This is a piece of work that the District Councils now need to undertake,

yet the Vale of White Horse District Council has already included its new target in the latest update of its Draft Local Plan.

Unachievable Where is the evidence that developers are actually willing to achieve this level of housing within the proposed timescales?

No doubt many developers will be quick to argue for housing growth and will be happy to pocket permissions for greenfield sites to add to existing landbanks. However, they are certainly not incentivised to build to a level where housing prices start to drop. …continues overleaf

Vale Plan shows the threat is real The Vale of White Horse District Council has published an update to its Local Plan 2031 proposals that takes the SHMA figures as its new housing targets.

It has identified 21 new development sites including seven in the Green Belt (totalling over 1,700 houses) and one in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (1,400 houses), threatening to devastate the character of the rural Vale.

Proposals also include a ‘release’ of a further 17 sites out of the Green

Belt, including the entire village of Farmoor, and reducing the Green Belt’s southern boundary near Tubney and Shippon. These sites are not specifically identified for development now but ‘may be considered for development as part of preparing the Vale Local Plan Part 2’.

That sounds pretty ominous to us!

The plans target many villages that have already had to deal with speculative housing applications over the last year or so. Infrastructure is being completely overwhelmed and

communities such as Great Coxwell and Sutton Courtenay are changing beyond all recognition.

CPRE is doing all it can to support these villages and others such as Radley, Cumnor and Shrivenham, which are all facing significant and unsustainable growth.

Our full response to the consultation on the Vale Local Plan update is available on our website or by contacting the CPRE Oxfordshire office.

Take action Vale residents – let your District Councillors know your concerns, and watch out for the final draft of the Local Plan due later this summer.

Join the debate. Join the campaign. Join CPRE

7

‘Staggering’ Oxfordshire housing figures

Helen Marshall said: “We are being set up to fail. District Councils are struggling to meet existing targets. How will virtually doubling the numbers overnight make any difference? The trouble is once these targets are missed, normal planning rules cease to apply and developers are given much freer rein to build in inappropriate locations, threatening some of our most precious landscape and villages.

“This has been the situation in the Vale of White Horse and Cherwell Districts over the last 18 months, and more recently in West Oxfordshire, and we have seen the damage it can cause to local communities. We do not want to see this continue or spread elsewhere.”

Unwanted Where is the evidence that local people believe in and are willing to support such levels of growth?

The figures are driven in large part by ambitious economic development plans contained in the draft Oxfordshire Strategic Economic Plan (that has not been subject to public consultation) led by the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (an unelected private sectorled organisation).

Affordable housing Much of the intended growth is justified by the need to provide ‘affordable housing’ but how affordable and by whom? There is no evidence to suggest that even building houses on this scale will lead to any significant drop in prices. On the contrary, it is not likely to resolve local need but merely attract further net migration into the County, increasing commuter levels to London and elsewhere.

8

Mudflats, wheat and skylarks: the cost of flooding

by Angus Dart, CPRE Oxfordshire’s farming consultant

When farmers set out to grow a crop such as wheat, they always have the yield outcome in mind. Experience of the field, its soil, past cropping, application of farmyard manure or compost, planting date and the variety all combine to create a mental estimate as to the yield of a fledgling crop.

And there is also the weather which is always the controlling influence in all we try to achieve, despite the myriad of sophisticated devices, knowledge, monitoring and the timely application of carefully targeted inputs.

Take a 40-acre field: a good field with stone free alluvial soil, first wheat after a break crop of oilseed rape with farmyard manure applied last year, and run through the list above. A high yielding variety sown at the ideal time and we can safely budget on a saleable yield of four tonnes per acre. Current new crop prices mean our crop will be worth £140 a tonne, so our crop will be £22,400 before any costs. So far we have invested in the physical inputs of seed, autumn applied herbicides to control grass weeds and pellets to control slugs present after oilseed rape, as well as nitrogen fertiliser already purchased for spring application. Costs of machinery and labour are incurred in preparing the seed bed, planting, rolling and spraying. There are also fixed costs of rent and overheads to consider.

The photo above shows the effect of flooding on those forty acres. The extreme right hand side of the picture

(unflooded) still has the original potential, with some 10-15 acres remaining. Moving to the left the crop gets noticeably thinner, the effect of two brief periods under water. Here we estimate that half the yield potential has been lost on a further 10 to 15 acres. This leaves 15 to 20 acres of ‘mudflats’ to the left, the part of the field that was under water for many weeks. It will yield nothing. Everything is destroyed, crop, weeds, earthworms and other soil organisms. There will be no cover here for a nesting skylark.

It is difficult to be precise on the areas of the field as the shapes are so random, however we are now likely looking at a field yield of 70 to 90 tonnes. This leaves us in a quandary.

Do we leave the field and try to salvage something at harvest? Or do we spray off all the green bits and plant a new spring sown crop, not knowing if we can work the bare area which is very wet still under the surface?

Our problem does not compare to the terrible emotional challenge of a flooded home. But it does make you think about the vast acreages of land in the Somerset Levels and the real financial costs and consequences of flooding. There is now concern that 17,500 acres of cider orchards may be destroyed as a consequence of sitting in feet of water for weeks. Interestingly, the Dutch, who share our climatic conditions and have 60% of their country below sea level, seem to be able to escape our predicaments.

CPRE Oxfordshire voice Spring 2014

Great Haseley windmill restored

No wind farm at Fewcott

by John Alexander, CPRE Oxfordshire member Great haseley windmill restoration team

wikipedia/motacil

A proposal to build a £10m wind farm on land between Fewcott and Fritwell, near Bicester next to the M40 has finally been scrapped.

The proposed development would have consisted of four 125m (400 feet) tall turbines, a control building and access. Initially the proposal was given the go-ahead, but local opposition was vigorous and unrelenting. In the end it has been abandoned because the developers could not satisfy the condition that London Oxford Airport’s radar would not be interfered with.

The march of solar farms continues Then…

The windmill at Great Haseley, close to the A329 between Great Haseley and Great Milton, was built around 1750 and operated for a century and a half until the arrival of the internal combustion engine which took over the milling process at the beginning of the 20th century. It ceased to operate a century ago and fell into disrepair, losing its cap, fan and sails.

However much of its internal workings were well-preserved. The remains of the windmill were given by Sir Martin Wood to a charitable trust, The Great Haseley Windmill Trust Ltd, in 2006 and the task of fund-raising and restoration began.

Full restoration of the windmill is now well underway, thanks to a grant from CPRE Oxfordshire Buildings Preservation Trust among others, and

…and now

is likely to be completed this year.

The stone tower has been repointed, floors have been replaced, millstones reinstalled, a new cap fitted and the fan has been re-built. It only remains for the sails to be put in place. The Trust is confident that it will be completed in 2014.

In January, construction began of England’s biggest solar farm at East Hanney near Didcot. And work is well-underway on a solar farm at Salutation Farm between Witney and Eynsham. To keep up to date with the latest solar developments, see our Google map, which tracks planning applications for solar farms larger than 0.5 hectares on greenfield sites in Oxfordshire from 1 July 2011 to 31 March 2014. http://goo.gl/maps/cIH4X

The plan is to open the mill several times during the summer so the public can see and enjoy a piece of industrial archaeology in its beautiful rural South Oxfordshire setting.

Take action See the windmill for yourself!

See our members’ events insert or visit www.cpreoxon.org.uk/events

Join the debate. Join the campaign. Join CPRE

9

Tracks west

Transport update

by Nigel Rose, Witney-Oxford Transport

by CPRE Oxfordshire’s transport consultant, Jim Fletcher Roads: the A34 The Highways Agency invited CPRE Oxfordshire and other stakeholders to discuss their South Coast to the Midlands Strategic Corridor that includes the A34 through our county.

A five year plan is being prepared, to commence in 2015, that needs to take account of major development such as in the Oxford Science Crescent between Harwell and Bicester. It is likely that the first priority after maintenance will be to improve the resilience of traffic flow. Disruption is already arising from accidents and congestion particularly at junctions.

An exciting project to improve public transport between Witney and Oxford is gaining momentum. Improved transport infrastructure is vital if towns such as Witney are to grow and reduce pressure for development in villages.

To this end, a new group, Witney- Oxford Transport (WOT), has been set up to overcome the gridlock on the A40 and achieve improved public transport between Carterton, Witney and Oxford. Since the old branch railway line was axed by Beeching fifty years ago, the population in Carterton and Witney has grown. At the same time, the blanket mills and other industries there have closed and employment has moved elsewhere; to Oxford city and to the south of the County. Studies made in 2001 and in 2009 favoured re-opening of the line.

Since then more houses have been built (and more are planned) and the RAF has moved all its air transport operations to Brize Norton.

LEP Bid for Funding Government has responded to the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership bid for highways improvements by allocating funding for: • a bridge to replace the level crossing on the old A41 in Bicester • a new pair of north-facing slip roads at A34 Milton Interchange with a link road past Harwell village • part-funding of roundabout improvements at A40 Oxford northern bypass.

Flooding at Oxford

10

Railways: East – West line The upgrading of the Oxford- Bicester line and the link to the Marylebone line at Bicester are now well underway but at the cost of suspension of the passenger service for the rest of this year. Commuters are suffering long delays on the alternative bus service or by car on A34 through the M40 interchange.

The landmark grain silo has been demolished as construction of the new station at Water Eaton begins in the Green Belt adjacent to the park and ride. All public rights of way across the improved line are being retained or diverted to new bridges. This major change to rail services between Oxford and London is likely to change car commuting in the area and reduce road traffic to London and High Wycombe.

In response to last winter’s flooding, the Prime Minister has announced an extra £61m to improve the resilience of national strategic roads and railways, of which £31m will be for

This scheme will be closely followed by extending the line to Milton Keynes and Bedford and then possibly Cambridge and the East Coast ports. This will be of particular significance for freight from

Suggestions included:

3. A revolutionary Tram-Train service where European-style trams operate over existing and formerly abandoned rail lines. Such a system will shortly open between Sheffield and Rotherham.

1. A Metro-style commuter train service between Cowley and Witney using existing lines and sections of the disused track, perhaps with Park & Ride sites along the route.

The launch of WOT in January 2014 was enthusiastically attended by the public, local councillors and transport campaigners. A number of technical and route options were discussed alongside population and traffic statistics, and concluded with a call to update a study of the problems and possible solutions.

10 rail projects including Hinksey.

This has again shown how the route through Hinksey south of Oxford is of strategic importance and needs to be improved as a high priority to be able to withstand extreme weather. Planning permission will not be needed for this work but some disturbance will be inevitable.

2. A guided busway – a new concrete track and road links exclusively used by buses. Similar systems have recently opened in Cambridge, and between Luton and Dunstable. Recent developments with electric bus technology (at Milton Keynes) may also be relevant.

WOT will present these ideas to local government and partnerships, and hopes to be in a position to put in some funding, helped by their supporting organisations.

Take action: Keep in touch with WOT www.witneyoxfordtransport.org.uk facebook.com/witneyoxfordtransport Twitter: @witneyoxtransp

CPRE Oxfordshire voice Spring 2014

the South Coast to the Midlands and North as part of the ‘electric spine’. This should take some freight traffic off the A34.

Obituaries

Proposals to relocate the aggregates distribution rail terminal in the Green Belt have yet to be finalised.

Railways: Great Western lines On the Great Western lines, electrification is now under way, requiring 28 bridges to be raised or altered in the county with up to 4 month long closures of local roads.

Advance publicity was misunderstood and only one month’s formal notice will now be given of these local road closures. All railways in Oxfordshire with the exception of the recently upgraded Cotswold line are included in this programme.

We are sorry to report the death of Enid Sharpe. Enid was a characterful and enthusiastic Chairman of CPRE Witney for a number of years, and was also Chairman of the Eynsham Society.

Railways: High Speed Two The Parliamentary Bill for the new HS2 high speed railway has been published including the voluminous Environmental Assessment on which we have commented. CPRE Oxfordshire has yet to be convinced that this incursion in the countryside is warranted, but continues to suggest changes to mitigate its impact on the very rural area through which it would pass, and on the population of the nearby villages, should it go ahead. This has been a protracted consultation lasting more than three years and most of our suggestions have been accepted. Meanwhile CPRE National Office, that had lent qualified support to the principle of a new railway, has issued a press release strongly criticising government for apparently reneging on the policy of investing in rail as the preferred option for inter-city travel and appearing to want to give equal priority to increasing road and airport capacity.

The route for the second phase of HS2 to Manchester and Leeds has been published in the Bill and is strongly supported by the cities that would benefit. The passage of the Bill through Parliament will be closely followed and support to petitioners considered where appropriate.

We also note the death of Mavis Batey.

CPRE member Alun Jones says: “Mavis Batey, MBE, VMH (1921 – 2013) will be remembered not only for her work at Bletchley Park during the Second

World War but also for her energetic work in conserving landscaped parks and gardens in Britain. This began in Oxfordshire after she and her husband moved to Oxford in 1967 to live initially in a flat created in the former laundry of the 18th century house and estate park of Lord Harcourt at Nuneham Courtenay.

Mavis researched the history of estate with tenacity and precision. Her interest expanded into concern over the threats of modern development to other historic parks and the countryside. She joined CPRE Oxfordshire and became an active member. Mavis visited and researched all the historic parks and gardens of Oxfordshire. I had the pleasure of working with Mavis on surveys and fieldwork, including at Heythrop, Shotover Park and Wroxton Abbey.

“Mavis was Honorary Secretary of the Garden History Society, of which she became President in 1985. During her retirement she wrote many books on garden history and was instrumental in securing Legal Protection for the Conservation of Historic Parks and Gardens nationally, for which she received the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal in 1985 and an MBE in 1987.”

The Daily Telegraph’s obituary of Mavis is here: http://bit.ly/1gOo5yS

Will you? A legacy is a gift like no other It is strangely wonderful to think that the time of our passing is often the time when we can be the most generous. In our wills, after we have remembered those we love, a gift to the charities we support brings not only peace of mind, but also a sense that the things we hold dear in life will continue.

can do this by adding a codicil, which is simply a new instruction to your existing will. A codicil should be signed and dated by you and witnessed by two people, just like your will. Keep the codicil with your current will in a very safe place and give a copy of the will and codicil to your executor or trusted friend. If in doubt, consult a solicitor.

If you don’t have a will, a solicitor can help you. There are two ways you can leave a legacy to CPRE Oxfordshire: a residuary gift (a share of your estate once all other gifts, debts and other expenses have been paid, usually a percentage) or a pecuniary gift which is a specific sum.

If you are considering leaving a gift in your will to CPRE Oxfordshire, please ensure you clearly name us as CPRE Oxfordshire, registered charity, number 1093081.

If you already have a will and want to include a gift to CPRE Oxfordshire, you

Join the debate. Join the campaign. Join CPRE

We are so very grateful to people who leave us a small legacy. Legacies are an important part of our income and allow us to continue the fight to protect the county we love for generations to come.

11

AGM papers will be available to download from our website by 10 May or contact the CPRE Oxfordshire office, details below.

Oxfordshire Voice

Branch Office

CPRE Online

Published biannually by the Oxfordshire Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

CPRE Oxfordshire, Unit 1, London Road, Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1JH (Registered office)

Oxfordshire: www.cpreoxon.org.uk

Design: Rob Bowker T: 01491 825609 Print: Severnprint Ltd with vegetable inks on recycled paper using renewable energy.

T: 01865 874780 E: administrator@cpreoxon.org.uk

Twitter: @CPREOxfordshire www.facebook.com/CPREOxfordshire National: www.cpre.org.uk