Category Archives: HFDAG Latest News

More houses on the way!!

BAN18, Banbury, Banbury Local Plan, CDC Localism Act, Cherwell Council, Cherwell District Council, Drayton Farm, HFDAG, HFDAG Latest News, Housing, Localism Act

Following the recent rejection of the Local Plan by the Planning Inspectorate due to CDC miscalculating the housing numbers the Inspector has now added more houses to Cherwells allocation. Previously the housing number was 16,000 however due to Oxford City Council proving they don’t have the required space to accommodate their required amount. OCC (city) have said that any further increases in housing numbers would fall in to the other districts of Oxfordshire. Cherwell must now accept an increase to 22,000 houses over the next 25 years. I will now highlight what this means to Banbury and to Hanwell Fields.

The old Local Plan (we’ll call it ADCU1 – Anti Democratic Cock Up 1) showed 2 areas on the map that would have a significant impact on HF. These being BAN2 and BAN5. The revised Local Plan – ADCU2 now shows a new area BAN18.

After the successful appeal by Miller Homes regarding land to the West of Warwick road for 350-400 homes. Councillor Turner has decided to close down Drayton Golf Course from October and the owners of the land – Trinity College, Oxford have decided to sell more of this land for further development. We are now expecting an increase of 300 houses making the combined total of all developments to around 1,700 properties. I’m a little suspicious of this decision by Cllr Turner. I can’t understand why he’s closing down so soon as the land has not been designated for development yet. Most developments of this size will not start work for about 2 years, so he has the potential to keep it open for that amount of time….unless he knows that work will be starting soon on the Miller Homes plans.

There have been a few rumours that I’ve heard about these developments. Firstly they may not be financially feasible due to costs of getting mains water to them. One figure I’ve heard is £20 Million to get pipes up to BAN5. For those that don’t know the small building on the left side of Dukes Meadow Drive as you go down the hill is a pump to get water to the top of the estate. Those at the top will know about losing water when the pump fails. From one document I’ve read it is estimated that BAN5 will need a further 2 of these.

The second rumour is the Chinese investor for BAN2 – Pandora Developments doesn’t see enough profit in the build as they have had the number of houses to the West of Southam Road reduced to 90 from 400. Plus they have to build a school. Therefore this development may not come to fruition.

These are only rumours and no one is willing to confirm or deny such things. Let’s hope they’re true.

The other thing to comment on is the amount of other houses that earmarked for Banbury, Saltway is now in the new revised Local Plan which adds another 1500-1700 houses to the plan. Demand for houses isn’t as great as the developers and the government are saying. Mostly due to the changes in Mortgage rules.

If you’d like to comment of this news then please do so. Don’t forget our website is www.HFDAG.org.uk

Here’s the new planned Local Plan Locations
revised_plan_map_aug2014revised_plan_map_BAN18_aug2014

Who do we think is to blame for the demise of Banbury ? Cherwell District Council. Why ? Still no Local Plan, if they’d bothered to get the plan approved earlier then we wouldn’t be seeing these mass developments because the plan would have been approved. By leaving it so long OCC and the Oxford Universities have made their acted upon updated information and leaned on CDC to fulfill the housing numbers.

West of Warwick Road Appeal Decision

Amber Developments, BAN5, Banbury, Banbury Local Plan, CDC Localism Act, Cherwell Council, Cherwell District Council, HFDAG, HFDAG Latest News, Localism Act, Miller Homes, Rapleys

The Miller homes development to the west of Warwick road has been granted after an appeal. You can read the full transcript here.
Unfortunately it appears the planning inspector has agreed to allow the creation of an extra junction along Warwick Road instead of using the Hardwick roundabout. Though this is seen to be adding more housing to an already huge number it is hoped that this development would see off the expansion to the North of Hanwell Fields. This development is livable and in many ways makes sense. As we’ve always said we are not against house building just poorly planned ones. This fits in with the purpose of the Northern Boundary. The hope now, if somewhat of a gamble is that we can argue the 160 houses proposed by Amber and Rapleys to the north (which are very poorly planned) are no longer required as this site exceeds the additional numbers for BAN5.

Amber Development Plans

Amber Developments, BAN5, Banbury, Banbury Local Plan, CDC Localism Act, Cherwell Council, Cherwell District Council, Framptons, Framtons - Banbury, HFDAG, HFDAG Latest News, Housing, Localism Act, Uncategorized

Here are the plans that have been submitted from Framptons of Banbury for the Amber Development. For those that remember their exhibition in the community centre apparently only 12 people gave feedback. I think they’ve made this up. I have included this as well. It’s a joke really.

The housing plan – Amber _160houses_ plan_07425909
Footpaths and Connections – amber_footpaths_connections_07425918
The feedback from the exhibition – amber_framptons_feedback_07425269
Trees and green space – Amber_green_plan_07425910

New Plans Submitted – Amber Developments

Amber Developments, BAN5, Banbury, Banbury Local Plan, CDC Localism Act, Cherwell Council, Cherwell District Council, Framtons - Banbury, HFDAG, HFDAG Latest News, Housing, Localism Act

Plans have formally been submitted for 160 houses on the field opposite Wintergardens Way. The proposed housing continues along the edge of Dukes Meadow Drive up towards Warwick Road. Notices have been posted on the entrance to the field however I can’t find any details on the Council website.

Having seen the plans previously, the housing density is very high and overwhelming. Hanwell Fields already feels very compact and claustrophobic. The openness of the fields brings much needed relief  to this density. We already have issues with housing numbers on this estate, too many cars and too few places to park them leading to many problems. This particular development will only aggravate this further. I object to all the developments but luckily the others are of sufficient distance away to not impose in such a severe way.

Shame on Framptons – A local planners who assist the demise of their own town.

Miller Homes Application update

BAN5, Banbury Local Plan, CDC Localism Act, Cherwell Council, Cherwell District Council, HFDAG, HFDAG Latest News, Housing, Localism Act, Miller Homes

I have received a letter from the council regarding the Miller Homes application for more housing to the top of the estate just off Warwick Road, next to Drayton Golf Club. Cherwell Council have withdrawn their reasons for appeal based on the recent Deddington homes decision. Therefore it would appear this application will most likely (though not definite) be passed. The hearing which is scheduled for 10.00am on Tuesday 14 January 2014 at the Council Chamber, Bodicote House, White Post Road, Bodicote. Will only proceed for 1 day instead of the original 5 days. Hanwell Fields will now be expanding by a further 300 houses.

Can we all just thank the council for being overwhelmingly useless.  The blame for any of the passed housing, not just around Hanwell Fields but around Banbury falls 100% on their shoulders. If the likes of Cllr Gibbard and the incompetant planning department had done their jobs correctly and produced a viable plan (thinking about it they needn’t have even made it viable) then a lot of the housing would not have been allowed.
The only reason all the housing has been passed is because of the lack of a local plan. Cherwell Council have made very serious mistakes in this regard and as such I would like to see resignations from Gibbard and the planning department.

Miller Homes Planning Appeal – Jan 2014

BAN5, Banbury Local Plan, CDC Localism Act, Cherwell Council, Cherwell District Council, HFDAG, HFDAG Latest News, Housing, Miller Homes

Miller Homes have appealed the Cherwell District Council decision over the refusal of developments on the Warwick Road, next to Drayton Golf Club. A hearing will take place on the 14th January 2014 with the planning inspector prosiding over the decision. This take place at Bodicote House, Banbury and is expected to last 5 days.

Having seen recent decisions over Deddington, Saltway, Bloxham and Hook Norton, one can only assume this will be given the green light also. The only people responsible for such decisions is purely Cherwell District Council because of the incompetency of the planning department and the planning committee to produce a Local Plan to any sort of standard and within realistic timescales. Their failings are our suffering.

 

Latest News Oct 2013

Amber Developments, BAN2, BAN5, Banbury Local Plan, CDC Localism Act, Cherwell Council, Cherwell District Council, HFDAG, HFDAG Latest News, Housing, Miller Homes

For those that have not heard about the latest situation regarding planning around Banbury, the developments in Bloxham, Saltway and Hook Norton have been appealed and overturned by the Secretary of State, Mr. Pickles. This is a scandalous result for the residents of Banbury and more importantly for those communities that will be effected….much like our’s. However the likes of Cllr Gibbard and the planning department are completely 100% to blame for this. They have been working on the Local Plan for 7 years and it’s still a complete disaster. If these people were in a real, private sector job they would have been dismissed by now. They have failed us.

For the past 18 months HFDAG have repeatedly told CDC about their Draft Local Plan, we have told them their numbers are wrong, we have told them the whole plan is wrong. We now hear that North Warwickshire has had its Local Plan dismissed by the planning inspectorate because their data is out of date, well CDC is basing their figures on even older information which means it’s inevitable that the CDC plan will also be rejected, or delayed until a more up-to-date version is created. Therefore the developers can appeal a decision on the basis that the Local Plan is not fully implemented. Erik Pickles then asks the district council for proof to reject the plans. They can’t, so he has no choice but to pass them.

It is for this reason and this reason alone that CDC should be held accountable for their incompetence and their failure to deliver.

This now leads me on to other news regarding the Miller Homes Development on West of Warwick Road, They have now lodged an appeal to Mr. Pickles, given the recent results of other local appeals why wouldn’t they. In all honesty they’ll probably win. So I can see us getting more housing besides BAN5 and BAN2. Perhaps (a big leap in faith, I know) the developers may hold off on BAN2 at least. That seems like the least likely to make it through to development.

I have been told that work has started on the Bankside development, which I believe they have started now because other builders are getting permission, but who knows.

As yet still no sign of an application from Amber Developments for the field opposite Winter Gardens Way.