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Plan to build between Banbury and Hanwell rejected
11/08/2023
Meeting told “Councillors must not underestimate the anger of local residents when planning decisions ignore the Council’s own Local Plan”
A proposal to build 170 new houses in the remaining fields between Banbury and Hanwell has been rejected. Cherwell District Council’s Planning Committee met last night and unanimously voted against an outline planning application by the Vistry Group.
In their report to the committee, planning officers had recommended the application be refused.
The application the Vistry Group said there was a growing need for high-quality homes across the country, with the wider Cherwell district seeing a particular demand. Of the 170 new homes they proposed, 51 would be designated as mixed-tenure affordable housing.
But the proposal received little local support, with 489 notes of objection submitted.
Ahead of a debate by Councillors Chris Brant from the Keep Hanwell Village Rural Action Group and Hanwell Parish Council addressed the meeting and focussed on the application being purely speculative, noting the land hadn’t ever been identified as a potential area for development in any Local Plan. He said: “Councillors must not underestimate the anger of local residents when planning decisions ignore the Council’s own Local Plan”.
Committee members from all the political groups spoke against the proposal.
Councillor Sean Woodcock opened the debate telling Councillors he recalled as a boy having walked across fields between Banbury and Hanwell where Usher Drive, Winter Gardens Way and Nickling Road now stand. He noted that after the fields were developed “the sky didn’t cave in”.
But whilst Councillor Woodcock noted he was firmly pro-Banbury and pro-building, he couldn’t support this scheme. He said: “We have to take into account democracy and, as the officers have said, these fields are not in either the adopted Local Plan, the update to the Local Plan, or the draft Local Plan that’s going through at the moment.
“This is a considerable scheme that will leave a permanent mark on our district and I think it should be for the Council – and councillors elected by the people – to make such a decision to allocate this as housing, not a developer chancing their arm.”
Councillor David Hingley told the meeting that the coalescence of settlements was something that must be seriously considered by the Committee. He agreed with Councillor Woodcock that new housing was needed, but felt it must delivered bearing in mind the needs of existing communities, respecting the protection and preservation of the countryside and rural environment.
Councillor Phil Chapman added that there were other sites which were much more appropriate for this level of housing.
In the vote that followed, the meeting unanimously rejected the application.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam