Protect our rural regions from overdevelopment
Cherwell District Council, Planning Inspectorate, Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Authorities
This petition speaks for all rural regions
Why sign?
On your behalf, we are objecting to an underfunded, unfit for purpose planning process in which multiple large scale planning applications are primarily assessed in isolation of each other. There is no single body responsible for evaluating their combined impacts—on traffic, public and utility services, schools, healthcare, the environment, our communities, wellbeing, landscapes and historic sites.
Cash-strapped councils can feel compelled to approve initial applications because they simply can’t afford the cost of defending an appeal.
What is happening in North Oxfordshire is one very clear example that demonstrates serious consequences of not getting the process changed.
Please read on and sign.
The situation that proves the case?
North Oxfordshire is a unique and beautiful area with rolling green hills, rich history, and tight-knit communities. However, the very character of this region is under threat should the disjointed planning authorities continue to neglect to fully assess together the combined impacts of all major planning applications in a region.
Five mega developments in North Oxfordshire are on the brink of approval: Heyford Park (New Town), Hawkwell Village housing estate, Oxfordshire Strategic Rail Freight Interchange, Puy du Fou theme park and four massive warehouses at Baynards Green.
Together, these schemes will completely change our landscape and quality of life by:
generating over 45 million vehicle movements annually and introducing 50,000 more people to an area of just a 5-mile radius increasing the population by over 30%.
This tsunami in population and traffic will undeniably devastate the character of North Oxfordshire. Local country roads, already burdened, will struggle under the increased stress, leading to inevitable delays, accidents, and pollution. Our schools, healthcare facilities, utilities and emergency services are not equipped for the explosion in demand, risking the welfare of all resident and eroding our cherished views and heritage sites such as the historic Rousham House and Gardens.
With other similar politically and financially motivated projects underway, this is a nationwide matter
What are we asking for?
We are calling for a common sense, unbiased, joined-up and properly funded planning process. We ask for major multiple planning applications to be overseen by an independent Impact Board, bringing together representatives from: our resident groups, developers, district and county councils, relevant central government bodies, the Planning Inspectorate, and our local MPs.
How can you help?
Sign this petition and share it widely — by email, WhatsApp, Facebook, X and through your websites and community networks.
We are aiming for at least 1,500+ signatures which will means this issue has to be formally considered under a council’s petition process, and so we can demand:
- an unbiased, correctly funded, independent, transparent cumulative impact study overseen by our proposed Impact Board covering multiple schemes together, and
- a pause on further related planning application approvals while that assessment is completed.
Please note: objections to the individual planning applications have been submitted. Petitions such as this one can not be raised against any planning application — councils’ rules mean that such petitions will be rejected.
Important: signing requirements
Please complete the form fully. Your name, email address, full address and postcode are required for your signature to be accepted and validated by any Government organisation. You do not need to create or sign up to an Action Network account to sign this petition!
Thank you for your support
NORA North Oxfordshire Resident Action
Check out the BBC TV Feature and the BBC's news article
NORA is a diverse team of conscientious local residents who are concerned about the pace and disjointed nature of development in our local area, which threatens to overwhelm our small communities. We are 100% volunteer-led.
Data provided is processed in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Petition by
To:
Cherwell District Council, Planning Inspectorate, Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Authorities
From:
[Your Name]
We ask Cherwell District Council, the Planning Inspectorate and the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Authorities to:
1) Convene a Cumulative Impacts & Infrastructure Board (or equivalent governance arrangement), with published terms of reference and a clear mechanism for community representation, bringing together CDC, Oxfordshire County Council, relevant infrastructure/service providers, and—where appropriate—developers.
2) Overseen by the proposed Impact Board, commission or coordinate an independent cumulative impact assessment covering the combined effects of the five schemes mentioned in the petition on transport/traffic, public services (schools/healthcare), utility services, emergency services, the environment, community wellbeing, views and heritage with published assumptions, scenarios and data.
3) Publish a single mitigation and delivery plan showing what mitigation solutions are required, who is responsible for delivery, how they will be funded, the triggers/timetable for delivery, and how monitoring/enforcement will work.
4) Where decisions sit outside CDC’s direct control, make formal representations to the relevant decision-making bodies, requesting that major decisions affecting the area are informed by (and timed to take account of) the published cumulative assessment and mitigation plan.
5) We also ask Cherwell District Council to produce and publish a single, enforceable staged construction and phasing plan and time table across all five developments, so that enabling works, HGV movements, road closures, earthworks, and other high-disruption activities are sequenced rather than overlapping thereby minimising massive disruption to residents, businesses, and transport networks across the wider region.
6) Pause processing the major planning applications in question until all five of the above are implemented and delivered.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Fennemore,
NORA North Oxfordshire Resident Action