Grammar School Hill development
| Jim Clemence |
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Wed 2 Nov 2016, 12:29 On behalf of the Friends of Evenlode Valley and West Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Here we go again. Just as before (a development I won't mention) this application, supported by the developer's retained advisers, understates the harm to the AONB, Charlbury's Conservation Area and other heritage and overstates the case in national and local policy for granting consent to applications which cause that sort of harm. Just as before the Friends of Evenlode Valley and West Oxfordshire is going to raise these and other issues with the planners. This time we have the benefit of knowing that WODC will probably not independently assess the developer's claims of limited/no harm nor be prepared to listen to our explanation as to why they have got national policy wrong (even when drafted and presented by a former planning inspector). We will also do so with a track record of putting together the wherewithal to challenge planning decisions which we believe get policy badly wrong. To avoid going through that again, we would like to do more this time to give the planners a better chance of getting it right by engaging our own landscape, heritage and legal advisers and putting that advice in front of them. As ever the financial scales are tipped in favour of the developer but we don't need to spend a great deal. The charity has raised a lot of money but has limited free resources and would like to raise a further £3,000 to undertake this work. We think shared among the many people who care, this is a small price to pay to ensure our conservation assets are given the protection to which they are entitled. If we are successful we hope this will change the outlook for speculative and inappropriate development not just in Charlbury but across the West Oxfordshire Cotswolds. We would like to ask for support, if not financial just general. The Friends of Evenlode Valley and West Oxfordshire Cotswolds is a charitable company (registered number 10001120). If you would like to, please contact us at friendsofevenlodevalley@gmail.com and of course have your say on the application at: |