Bellinger, the car dealer, moved from their Ock Street site on 7th October 2016.

Churchill Retirement Living then put in a planning application during February 2017 for 39 one and two bedroom apartments on the site.

The application was initially turned down by the Vale of White Horse District Council planning committee. The council officer judged that the benefits outweighed the concerns, but Councillors disagreed. Reasons for refusal were ‘…the scale, bulk and close proximity of the proposed building to existing dwellings, the proposal will cause an undue loss of light, sunlight and privacy to neighbouring properties…‘

So the site has had a couple of years to return to nature. I once took a picture of a young fox on the site.

The plan was then granted on appeal on 3rd October 2018 by a planning inspector, and so building work cannot be far off now.

Outline Planning Permission was granted for 200 homes in a field north of Abingdon on 13th February 2018. The land was already part of the local plan.

Last week fences were added, probably to allow an archaeological survey. Meanwhile the detailed plans are being reworked. No building work will happen until they are approved.

The site is on the field bounded by Tilsley Park, the Wootton Road, Dunmore Road, and the A34 (pictured above.)

Detailed plans were submitted but withdrawn in October, pending a rethink.

Among the comments to those plans were the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissiong Group who said ‘This development would realise an extra 480 patients on average, for the GP’s in the area …‘ Before they could approve the plans extra financial support would be needed for the local health economy.

The Friends of Abingdon suggested that the developer had underestimated the walking distance to a number of local facilities.

The Vale urban design officer suggested the plan ‘presents a lacklustre scheme with a measure of spatial inefficiency’.

There has been a planning application P18/V2127/LB since August to turn 23 High Street into a new bar / restaurant. The premises was used for many years by Smiths the Chemist. The rear area was also used as a reading room by Abingdon Library.

Work is underway in renovating the basement and ground floor. The planning application says there has been flooding in the basement which will be tanked so that it can be used for storage and a restaurant area. The dispensary area will become the kitchen, and a modern flat roofed area to the rear will become an enclosed smoking area.

The lantern, above the former Abingdon Library reading room, at the back is an interesting feature.

The plans say no major changes will be done to the front view from the High Street apart from installing stronger glass.

Smiths left the premises in April 2016 and were renamed as Avicenna Pharmacy, and took over the premises of a former pub in Stert Street, Abingdon. Abingdon Library left the back of the premises in the 1976, and moved to the Charter, Abingdon.

Trevor sent me this picture of an object in a field and says “Saw this today. It’s in the field behind the Morland Gardens development. Can’t be can it??”