Proposed development at Rushy Bank, Forest Road

Wed 1 Apr 2015, 15:04 (last edited on Wed 1 Apr 2015, 16:24)

Rushy Bank is a property development, and like all such ideas, it is primarily designed to earn a living for those who develop, design and build it, not to mention those who own the land.

To get approval for a housing estate in a green field outside the town and on a rather sensitive site, this one has been dressed up with (a few) homes for people with special needs, provided by a countywide Oxfordshire charity.

I notice that the illustration of the development on the Rushy Bank leaflet is drawn at an angle that suggests that by the far the greater part of the site will be devoted to accommodation for people with early onset dementia. This is not the case, as the 'proper' map shows.

As I see it, there are people with strong interests in seeing this scheme approved, not just the YoungDementia people and the Beacon Trust.

First is the Cornbury estate, which we are told is offering this site at a reduced price. Planning approval could make it easier to add tens, possibly hundreds of millions of pounds to the value of other land that is at present agricultural.

Second, building on farmland round Charlbury could also bring millions to private landowners, including local families with fields, campsites and paddocks on the outskirts of the town, and/or adjacent to it. On the face of it, there are potentially similar sites to Rushy Bank on the Spelsbury, Witney and possibly the Woodstock roads. Some of these may already be Cornbury or Blenheim land, for all I know. £50k will already buy you a field on the Woodstock Road, which looks to me a speculative price for 3.5 acres of 'permanent pasture'. (The Charlbury amenities listed by the agent, which include the Coop and access to the station, are hardly those required by sheep, cattle or horses -- except of course for the vet!)

Among local landowners www.companycheck.co.uk lists Cotswold Village Homes Ltd. You can see the categories of business in which the company operates, and the list of directors. The company has been going for 16 years. There may well be others in a similar category. Below I suggest ways of trying to locate local development companies.

Third are the members of the Rushy Bank Partnership, among them architects and property developers. The leaflet delivered to Charlbury homes lists only two members: YoungDementia UK Homes and the Beacon Project. However the Rushy Bank website lists other partners as well: almost all are limited companies, and lists of present and past directors as well as financial records can be found at www.companycheck.co.uk Once you have found a company, select the 'Directors' tab and then select 'Directors and Secretaries Summary'. If you scroll down, you will find a list of directors where you can click a director's name and find a list of any other companies they are or have been a director of.

You can also search the site for directors by name, though if you do not know a person's full name, it may be easier initially to identify them through a company you know they are or have been a director of. 'Advanced search' even allows you to search by postcode. This finds directors by home addresses, as well as companies by their registered addresses, though some directors appear to use their accountant's or business address as their 'home' address.

Another useful website is www.endole.co.uk Here, when you locate a company, the site offers you a list of 'Connected Companies' where there is an overlap of directors. This is a way of spotting connections which would otherwise be difficult to establish.

These two websites offer slightly different facilities (for free) and to get most information, use both! Both also offer lots of documents you have to pay for.

Here are all the Rushy Bank Partnership members, according to the RB website. Not just the two named on the leaflet… I can find websites for all but Collaboration Development Partnership; they give more information about what each does.

Oxford Architects
A partnership registered at Bagley Croft, Hinksey Hill, Oxford.

Oxford Design Studio
Director: Stuart Parker
The Oxford Design Studio website includes an aerial view and a plan of the Rushy Bank proposal. Ongoing work includes the very attractive and progressive Walcot Barns conversion for Cornbury, which was granted planning approval last year.

Wychwood Biodiversity Ltd
Director: Guy Parker
Produced at least two of the reports submitted as part of the Rushy Bank planning application. Lots more information on their website.

Clews Landscape Architecture Ltd
Director: Charlie Clews
The company is listed as a local business at a house in Forest Court on the Charlbury website. CLA submitted at least one of the reports included as part of the planning application. There is more information on the CLA website.

CDP - Collaboration Development Partnership
This is not a company registered at Companies House, but is described as a member of the Rushy Bank Partnership. However, and possibly coincidentally of course, CDP is also the acronym for Cox Development Partners Ltd (directors Ian and Susan Cox). Another company, CDP Land Ltd, was registered in February. Both companies are registered at Frankswell House, Fishers Lane, Charlbury which is also the address given for the Rushy Bank Partnership.

Beacon Project Charlbury Ltd
Current and past directors are listed at www.companycheck.co.uk

YoungDementia UK Homes
Current and past directors are listed at www.companycheck.co.uk

Creating your own Who's Who of Rushy Bank and development interests in Charlbury helps give additional perceptives on the application, and who might be motivated to support it.