A few weeks ago a group of residents took a petition to the Vale of White Horse District Council asking that the council appeal against the decision of the planning inspector to allow 159 homes to be built in a field alongside South Abingdon.

Legal advice has been taken and the 2 legal experts judge that The Planning Inspector’s decision could not be challenged on legal ground. He allowed the scheme to go ahead because the Vale of White Horse District Council did not have a five year housing plan in place as required by the the NPPF – National Planning Policy Framework, voted in by the coalition government as a way to quickly free up land for house building.

The Planning Inspector had also considered the main objection, traffic, and made sure that traffic mitigation measures go ahead before any development.

So now it is all down to whether the traffic mitigation measures (those extra pedestrian lights) suggested by the developers are allowed by Oxfordshire County Council. That is not a foregone conclusion given that it has to go through public consultation. So expect a story about that in the not too distant future.