draft Cherwell Local Plan - 2040

The draft Cherwell Local Plan - 2040 was approved at a Cherwell District Council meeting earlier this week to be issued for consultation.

That consultation will likely start next week and will run for just 6 weeks.

The impact of the plan on Bucknell is huge and we only have 6 weeks to make our views known.

The more comments that are received by Cherwell, the more weight those views will have, so we really do need to ask you to participate in the consultation.

The document is huge.

340 pages of development joy.

But we’re here to help!

There is a specific page on the village website where we are posting relevant information over the coming days and weeks.

You can access a copy of the draft plan - page 158 for the Bicester plan and then 248, 249 and 250 to see the maps that show just how close it will all come to Bucknell.

There is a Parish Council meeting on Monday 11 September (7:30pm, Village Hall) where this will likely be the key subject for conversation. All are welcome to attend (we may even have our CDC Councillors present!)

HawkHell and Firethorn

Looking for inspiration for your letters to Councillors and committee members at Cherwell District Council following the Firethorn Appeal and the effects that it will have across the region?

Look no further - just go to the HawkHell page - to see the Parish Council's letter sent tor the Planning Committee members, the Scrutiny Committee members and Rees, the Chief Executive.

We have asked for rapid responses from them all given the nature of the letter and the consequences of the civil servants' actions. We'll update here as we hear back from them.

HawkHell

Thanks to all that were able to join us for last night's village meeting.

In a nutshell - we presented the current status of planning applications around the Bucknell area: HawkHell, Himley, Elmsbrook, Firethorn to name just some, as well the new draft Cherwell Local Plan that will be out for consultation (we expect in September).

We need action now though. Why?

Did you know that in the world of the civil servants at Cherwell District Council that 10 = 30? Obviously wrong, but that is what they think.

The Firethorn application (around 530 houses around the Elmsbrook development) should have had 30% affordable housing as part of the plan. But the lovely developers wrote a grovelling letter to the civil servants to say that they wouldn't make enough money if they had to provide 30% affordable housing - could they lower it to 10% instead?

Rather than following the decision of our elected councillors at Cherwell (who rejected the application), and just as an appeal was being heard by the Building Inspector, those civil servants decided to agree to this reduction. So much for providing housing for locals that need affordable places to live.

We need as many people as possible to write to District Councillors, County Councillors and MP's to express frustration that their decision (made by democratically elected officials) has been overridden by civil servants.

The real issue is that this sets a precedent. If civil servants will just roll over and give in to the developer's demands for Firethorn, imagine the impact that these same people could have at HawkHell.