Crab Hill Development Approved

Last night I attended the Vale's Planning Committee to hear the debate and verdict on the Crab Hill development north east of Wantage.  The area spans both parishes of Grove and Wantage as well as Lockinge on the boundary.  The committee granted approval for the outline development of 1,500 houses which was really no surprise.  There is a package for infrastructure totalling around £32M, but questions still remain around the timely delivery of the Wantage Eastern Link Road which has been talked about so much recently. 

There is also uncertainty about the school places which will be needed because although the first primary school will have to be brought on stream after 350 dwellings are completed, we know there are already shortages of school places in the area now.  Added uncertainty over the delivery of the Grove Secondary School on the airfield site, means that until that is built the capacity of King Alfred's to cope with the extra demand is unknown.

My concern is that this development adds to the 3,000 already approved for our area and the pressure on our already congested roads, and our local facilities will all be stretched, because we know that infrastructure never comes first, but only after the homes are built.  Very challenging times ahead for us all!  The problem is that as long as there is no Local Plan in place, speculative development continues to happen.

There has now been an announcement that there is to be a consultation exercise on the emerging Local Plan with some meetings planned (unfortunately not in Grove or Wantage).  See this link to find out how you can make your comments.