Progress continues on the building on Marcham Road – once rumored to be a KFC, but which is really accommodation for elderly people.
Over the road, McDonalds is having alterations made and is closed for the week.
Meanwhile on the corner further alterations are being made by Oxfordshire County Council – possibly to make the footpath / cycleway safer. It narrows at this point and is raised about two feet above the height of the road below.
The Boundary House pub sign is a reminder that this very popular pub was once the house of Cecil Kimber – the Managing Director of MG Cars. Plans for a new sign with no picture – just writing – has been proposed by Greene King and then withdrawn.
Behind the sign – high in the trees – can be seen a prominent rookery.
A little further down Oxford Road – at number 40 – trees have just been cleared and are being offered as free firewood. The house suffers from a severe lean and will soon be demolished and replaced with a four bedroom house – not the usual over development that has become commonplace.
At the new Tesco Extra – where the Ox once stood – I see they have got a cashpoint installed. It was the one thing that got rejected when the original planning application went in to change from pub to shop.
The draft local plan for the Vale of White Horse District until 2029 will be on view tomorrow (Tue 12 March, 12-7pm, Abbey Shopping Centre). There is also a chance to see an unmanned version of the plan at the Guildhall, or on the Vale’s website.
Most of the new houses will be in Wantage, Grove, Faringdon, and particularly Harwell. No major new developments are anticipated in Abingdon before 2029 because there is “significant existing highway congestion within the sub-area” and “Abingdon on Thames has experienced sustained growth over the last few decades.”
As to the proposed 160 houses in a field to the the South of Abingdon, they would not be allowed by the draft plan because of traffic. But as there is no saying what the planning appeals inspector might decide leaflets are going round South Abingdon saying you have until 15th March to make comments to the Planning Inspector.
As to the newer proposal for 60 houses in a field north of Abingdon (bottom end of Radley Road and bordering the Peachcroft Estate), that area is not mentioned in the plan either.
In the longer term it is admitted that Abingdon has to be allowed to grow or be left behind. So the plan says “The least constrained areas of undeveloped land lie to the south of the town. However, strategic housing growth could only be sustainably accommodated alongside the development of a town centre bypass which would need to be appropriately funded.”
There is little prospect of money to fund such a bypass even with developer funding, and so a track of land is secured for a future generation if they have means to build a bridge and road. The track runs from near Culham, across the River Thames, then between rugby pitches and sewage works, crosses the Drayton Road near Oday Hill, before heading round across the flood plain to Tesco.
The scaffolding is now down round the new care development located in the centre of Abingdon, where the Abbey Press and the MOT Centre once stood.
The care development has an outlook across the Waitrose Carpark on one side and the Abbey Grounds on the other. So will provide front seat views for the next Rock in The Park (if there ever is one) and The Abingdon Passion Play. There will be 71 suites in all for 71 residents, and a club with a spa and cinema. The first residents move in this Spring.
They plan to take an active part in Oxfordshire Artweeks, sponsoring three artists chosen because every person can continue to lead an active and fulfilling life no matter what their age. Pictures are from those same artists in the Artweeks brochure back in 2012.