There will be two exhibitions to give the people of Abingdon an opportunity to view the initial proposals for development of 900 homes on farmland to the north of Abingdon:
Saturday 16th July, 11 – 4pm, Trinity Church Conduit Centre, Conduit Road.
Tuesday 19th July, 5 – 8pm, Tilsey Park, Dunmore Road.
The developers, CEG, want to get outline planning permission through the Vale of White Horse District Council and so are presenting ideas for initial public feedback as part of the process. Top among the worries of local people are likely to be increased traffic problems, and the erosion of the green belt separating Abingdon from Oxford.
Slowly but surely, the green space between Oxford and Abingdon is filling up.
Confused . Com ?? Does this mean this development is not a done deal? How can this proposal be stopped? Should this proposal be stopped? Will this ultimately be another Moreland Garden where the overwhelming feeling and opinion of “the people” be ignored and play no part in a process that ignores them in favour of big business?
Of course another dinominator now is the fact that we will be leaving the EU and as such our projected housing may well be much less ?
Yeah, I thought that 530000 jobs relied on our relationship with the EU in the South East, and, what with all of those jobs now being lost forever, and the pound being at a 30yr low against the dollar, and the property market about to crash and the construction industry on its knees post Brexit, not to mention all the housing freed up as everyone goes home…do we really need these houses?
More seriously…I think, if the developers CEG want to build some houses; then they’ll build some houses. We could scream, and we could shout, and Nicola Blackwood could even write a strongly worded email…but the houses will be built. Never let it be said that common sense should get in the way of an argument…. especially not when there’s a pretty profit to be made.
I am very unhappy about this. Let’s organise a rally. Where’s Bob Geldof when you need him??!
Desperately needed, if young people are to afford their own homes and it couldn’t have come at a better time when, despite the sarcasm on here, it is very clear from the stock market that property prices will be the first (and perhaps most welcome) victim of the referendum vote
The diamond interchange should be built before the first housing brick is laid. No one trusts politicians’ promises and their ability to judge what constitutes adequate extra infrastructure (see previous references to Nimmo-Smith)
Yes, as someone who lives in the area I would hope that the roads would be tackled as a priority – not just a proper interchange at the A34 but also something to help with the extra traffic along the Dunmore Road / Twelve Acre Drive. Those roads are very busy and with huge housing estates due to be on both sides of those roads now turning out, especially right will be a big problem – mini roundabouts? speed reduction?
I get that housing is needed and has to go somewhere but lets, for once, make sure its done properly eh…?
(also the comment above about young people being able to afford homes – will be interesting to see what the mix of housing that is proposed is….)
Vox populi
They will build hardly any to help people get on the property ladder. I have no objections to building houses, but in reality they will be mostly 3-4-5 bedroom, which helps nobody.
If they are going to start building, then there should be plenty of 1 and 2 bed houses to get people on the ladder.
They will throw a few in as a token gesture, but it’s never enough.
Agree with Steve. Would support this development (house owner myself so won’t directly benefit me) but they won’t be built for the people that need them, they will be built to maximise profit. They would HAVE to be majority smaller/cheaper starter homes or flats to warrant building on greenbelt.
But they won’t be.
They won’t be building any bungalows for people who wish to downsize. The developers want to cram as many houses as possible on the land to make vast sums of money
I also thought the planning consent was a done deal. Ordinary residents have such very little power to change any decisions made. 900 homes = how many extra vehicles on the ring road at peak time? 1500-2000? The lodge hill ‘diamond’ junction prospect seems to be fading from view, and I’d like to bet won’t be constructed beforehand. Do think though that developers may be feeling a tad more nervous about the prospects of the market in this post-referendum era.
The properties proposed immediately NE of Tilsley park, would be very close to the A34, and associated traffic noise. Wouldn’t be too pleasant in gardens, or with house windows open.
The detailed planning application hasn’t gone in yet so is not a “done deal” – they have got a general green light to build approx that number of houses, but many of the points above are really important and we need to take every opportunity to try to make them – both to the developers and the Vale.
We need to ensure that the Vale adheres to its policies as stated in the Local Plan (Core Policies 22-24 cover housing mix, affordable housing and housing density).
PS For those who wonder whether we really need the houses, the Strategic Housing Market Assessment showed that to meet existing needs (i.e arising from deomgraphic changes and known patterns and not including those from job growth) the Vale needs to build 683 houses p.a, of which 270 need to be “affordable”.
Hester. Morland Gardens boasted ‘affordable housing’ but the houses start at £395,000. I think the words ‘affordable housing’ mean nothing. It is a done deal. Even though local councils may object a Government planning inspector will be brought in to push the project through. Public consultation is just going through the motions. Nothing the public say will be taken into consideration.
When did the plan (such as it is) change to including a chunk to the Radley side of Oxford Road rather than the left of Wootton road as you are looking towards Wootton?
Also, it seems to me there is no chance that the DoT will allow a diamond junction, surely? That would add too much more local traffic onto a major trunk route.
Do you know Hester what those 683 houses need to be? Do we need 683 5 bed family homes – in which case 683 flats are pointless? Or 683 1 bed hones, in which case 5 bedroom family homes makes no sense?
One assumes that the traffic monitoring on the bridge above the A34 at Lodge Hill, and further down at Hinksey Hill/Oxford Rd is all related to this?
Whilst I admire the optimism, I am far too much of a pessimist to think this will provide anything good or positive for Abingdon. Having the current infrastructure issues addressed first, now, to sort today’s problems would go someway to reassuring the town’s folk that this might be all ok in the long run. But, I guess, the people who are can’t afford to live in London need to commute in from somewhere. May as well be here! Just think of all that extra council tax…. Imagine what they could do to improve Faringdon or Wantage with all that extra cash!
There is so much talk about affordable homes..the problem is some of these folks get their affordable homes and within a couple of years wreck them….there are some dreadful examples in Abingdon on Thames
The “Lady” that is such a snobbish statement !
It is not at all snobbish it is very very true…I can show you perfect examples
Daniel/Janet
There is masses of information on this on the Vale wesbite – including breakdowns of the types of housing needed, definitions of affordability etc. The information is in the documents I referred to – the SHMA and the Core Polcies. Sad as I may be I havent yet read them closely enough to be able to distil them into answers to your questions but these are the sort of things we need to study and hold them to account on – the whole point of a Local Plan is that they shouldnt approve anything which contravenes it. As we know Morland Gardens went through because ther was no valid Local Plan.
John Styles.- if you look at the Local Plan docs you will see that there is still a proposal for a development in the area West of Tilsley Park, in addition to this one, but that is being taken forward by another developer. The case for the diamond interchange seems to have been accepted by all relevant bodies and funds are (or were) earmarked – but who knows what will happen in the light of other recent events…..
There is a house near me that is an absolute wreck. the garden is full of garbage, there is a wheel-less, decaying caravan in the front, the hedges are up to the upstairs windows, which are totally obscured by the black bags and boxes which fill the house.
Environmental health have been round numerous times, and there is currently an enforcement order going through the courts to make the owner clear it up.
For the record, the house is owner-occupied and worth, i suspect, at least a million and a quarter. The owner is extremely wealthy and from a privileged background (old money, my dears).
What does that prove? No more than TheLady’s comments prove. You can get slobs from any background.
David, even worse ! About five years ago my wife and myself arranged to meet a couple we new vaguely for a drink in town, I knew the woman was a governor at one of our secondry moderns ( not saying which ) as the evening progressed a pretty little 15 or so year old came over to us and had a brief chat with our friend ( the woman) when she left I asked why the girl had made a bee line to our friend? I’m her mentor, she replied, that’s brilliant I replied, but how do you know who needs mentoring? Under achieving? Nope, poor exam results? Nope, late homework etc? Nope, none of that, it’s by post code ! WWHAT! She went on to say that someone from a xxxx. postcode is going to need mentoring far more than someone who lives in Park Rd ! That reply left me speechless, already at 14 or 15 year old our children have been pigeon holed, disgsrceful.
Which brings me back to the “Lady’s” comments and my reply to them, you can’t disregard a layer of society just because they don’t conform to your expectations
Remembering with affection when Abingdon stopped at Appleford Drive & walking through Radley Park as a ten year old.
Off subject, but worth mentioning in today’s biz news Biffa are due to float on the stock market tomorrow with a £1 billion pound price tag ! Profits rose by 26% to a whooping £67 million, No wonder our rates are so high ?
I thought secondary modern schools were abolished in the 1970s? There haven’t been any in Abingdon since I have lived here. Use of terminology like that – not to mention “a pretty little 15 or so year old” raises quite a lot of questions in my mind! If “pigeon-holing” means positive action to help people who may benefit from it, I am all in favour!
PS I know very well that families can have problems regardless of their social status, but I believe that our excellent comprehensive schools can deal with that.
Usual nonsense and subversive posting eh Hester ? For once why don’t you stop trying to split hairs !!
While some may be glad that share prices are dropping, it’s not quite as easy as ‘punishing the rich’. The biggest share-holders are pension funds; I am sure that most people would like to see their pension futures growing rather than falling.
I cant speak for the other schools but that is absolutely not how mentoring (a very valuable tool) works at the school I am involved with, nor has it been in the seven years I’ve been a governor there. Either your neighbour was mistaken or simplifying.
Social deprevation is a factor and certain areas in abingdoon, with parts of our community being in the bottom 1% of the country for educational deprivation. However, support,such as mentoring, is determined by the needs of the individual student which is driven by numerous factors, and the type of mentoring given will also vary a lot depending on the specific sutuation of the student.
There seems to be a misunderstanding about what Affordable Housing actually means (capitals used on purpose to differentiate from simply affordable housing). Within the context of planning it is “Housing provided below the market rate to specified eligible households. Homes can be for rent or intermediate tenure, such as shared ownership or rent to buy.” It does not mean the developer has to offer any of the properties they build at below market value to the general public, hence Janet quoting the price at which a development is marketed is irrelevant. There are also very specific rules to prevent developers from building lower spec or visually less appealing properties or tucking them all away in the darkest, dampest corner of the site and it is clearly in the developers interest, given that Affordable Housing has to be integrated throughout the development, not to shout about which properties are Affordable as, believe it or not, some bigoted people believe that those deemed eligible (which can include essential workers like teachers and NHS employees) are a sub class not deserving of nice houses in a decent location and so would not buy houses near them. So in reality, unless you are one of the ‘specified eligible households’ the chances are you won’t be aware of the presence of Affordable Housing on a new development, but rest assured they will be there if a development is deemed of a scale to support them and in a location that needs them.
Yet another development, this time on the outskirts of Sutton Courtney along the road to Appleford. This one’s called ‘Heritage Park’ … someone working for the developer obviously has a sense of humour.
Now, let’s guess the route the residents of this development will take if they want to get onto the A34 …
We’ll soon need Nimmo-Smith to make another flying visit to Abingdon and decide where we need new traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. He’s a magician at solving traffic congestion …
If you look at the Morland Gardens site – there are 2 bedroom houses on the plan. At the moment only 3 and 4 bedroom houses are for sale from £345,000. This suggests the 2 bedroom ones will be more ‘affordable’ – it’ll be interesting to see their actual prices once these plots are released.
When I give an opinion…I am called a SNOB…I do not like new property trashed,…walls broken done …drawing on every spare wall and paving,plants and trees uprooted ,spillage of unmentionables all over the place…the worse part is foul mouthed woman shouting the odds on my doorstep..i DO NOT FIND THIS ACCEPTABLE AND I DO NOT THINK ANYONE ELSE WOULD
I agree with the Lady. It is very difficult when one gets problem neighbours. I live on an ex council estate. In the 70’s everyone in my row worked and kept their houses nice. People bought them but Sovereign Vale bought the two houses either side of me back and put tenants in them. I can say that I am lucky in that both sides work hard and keep their houses and gardens nice. We did have a spate of vandalism from youths not from our location but when the South Abingdon Residents Group was in existence we worked to get rid of graffiti etc. I go along litter picking and inform the council if anything is dumped in our area.
I can’t imagine what would cause ‘foul mouthed women’ to shout on your doorstep, but I’m fascinated to know. Is it only women who shout obscenities on your doorstep or don’t you mind it so much when men do it?
Seriously though, of course the things you describe are unacceptable but as we have heard above, such behaviour is not the preserve of what you would probably call ‘the lower orders’ and it’s certainly no reason to penalise or demonise the vast majority of people who live in Affordable or Social housing and don’t behave that way.
Like everything in life there is not all bad ,,I feel sorry for people with could not care less neighbours. I take notice that Sovereign vAle on the whole do not keep there property in good order and alongside some of their tenants who enjoy living like pigs it makes it very hard for other people
At one time the Council were very strict about the state of their council houses. They would do inspections regularly. However, I think that the law has changed and I was told that people can do what they want with their own gardens. The local council only intervene when it gets really bad and can slap an improvement notice on the tenant. Either the tenant has to clear the rubbish up or the council will do it and charge the tenant.
You are kind of right Janet. A housing officer and/or rent collector woukd be along weekly or monthly to collect payment/check up. But, what with so many other “improvements,” direct debits have saved all the hassle.
More progress.
Still, I hope they resolve the traffic issues so that the children from South and West of town can get driven to any new primary school in the North of town without much delay.
Iain, it was at your school !
Then as I said previously – you have been misinformed
Hopefully BREXIT will bring to a end this disgusting idea !! Any plans for schools , Doctors etc !!! Abingdon will be gridlocked and the diabolical roads will get even more potholed !! Time to get out of Oxfordshire I think !!!!
There seems a certain inevitability to all this so I think the housing plan needs to be stiffly opposed until certain road improvements are made. Firstly the development cannot go ahead until the Lodge Hill A34 junction improvement is in place, secondly I believe the town’s ring road needs to be dualled between the Oxford Road and Wooton Road also perhaps between the Oxford and Radley road’s, this will leave adequate spare capacity when further inevitable expansion occurs when Radley is eventually joined to Abingdon east and west of the Radley Road, I also eventually see further expansion occurring on the opposite side of the A34 to the Circus field on both sides of Long Tow and north of the B4017 behind the farm and (what was) the gun club.
Could the present planned housing development be halted by a disruptive purchase of the land split into many small parcels?