Last week I was looking at planning decisions past, present and future as we head for trying to decide where future growth should be in the Vale. This is part of the Strategic Local Plan Advisory Group where we are looking at all possibilities as pressure is put upon councils to find room for new housing in their districts. This all seems rather irrelevant with the present credit crunch, where we know that housebuilders are in difficulty. Indeed, we heard that as far as the new Grove development is concerned, Persimmon is looking towards the end of next year before submitting their planning application.
On Wednesday, I was involved with a members' tour of various sites which had in the past been contentious. Two sites in Abingdon and two sites in Cumnor were visited. These sites at the time had raised serious issues with the local community, so it was interesting to go back and have a look now the development was complete. All had settled down rather well.
At Kingston Bagapuize we visited what was known to be an 'affordable housing site', which was built to a high standard of quality and would provide much needed local houses for the village. This piece of land was made available as an 'exception' site, specifically to allow houses to be built for the local community - it worked well too.
We visited Limborough Road, to view the Sainsburys site, local shopping centre and the wharf. Grove Airfield was also noted on the tour and this is where we shall be watching carefully to make sure that when and if this site is developed, we will do our best to ensure it is as good quality as those sites we visited during the day. However, when we are looking at future housing growth, maybe we should look to some of our larger villages, like Kingston Bagpuize, where some extra houses are welcome for the sustainability of the community. What do you think?
On Wednesday, I was involved with a members' tour of various sites which had in the past been contentious. Two sites in Abingdon and two sites in Cumnor were visited. These sites at the time had raised serious issues with the local community, so it was interesting to go back and have a look now the development was complete. All had settled down rather well.
At Kingston Bagapuize we visited what was known to be an 'affordable housing site', which was built to a high standard of quality and would provide much needed local houses for the village. This piece of land was made available as an 'exception' site, specifically to allow houses to be built for the local community - it worked well too.
We visited Limborough Road, to view the Sainsburys site, local shopping centre and the wharf. Grove Airfield was also noted on the tour and this is where we shall be watching carefully to make sure that when and if this site is developed, we will do our best to ensure it is as good quality as those sites we visited during the day. However, when we are looking at future housing growth, maybe we should look to some of our larger villages, like Kingston Bagpuize, where some extra houses are welcome for the sustainability of the community. What do you think?
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