The CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) held a hustings this evening for the Oxford West and Abingdon parliamentary constituency.
The venue was the Byzantine St Barnabus Church in Jericho, Oxford West.
Bill Heine, the Radio Oxford presenter, chaired the debate which included six of the seven candidates. The UKIP candidate was not there.
Oxfordshire is still more rural than most of the South East but it appears, from figures quoted at the hustings, that a body called the Growth Board now wants 100,000 new homes to be built in Oxfordshire, with a 40% increase in population. Candidates, by and large, thought growth needed to be spread across the country not just in the South East.
Already there are not enough affordable homes for local people. So there were some big questions around affordable housing, planning and toxic developments in Oxford, Oxford’s green belt, proposed park and rides, the A34, transport generally, and the NPPF.
The coalition government introduced the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework), which appeared to give power to developers over local communities. Appeals by developers have often been successful because local authorities don’t have a five year housing supply. Larry Sanders from the Greens said, as a result, that the coalition government had been one of the most destructive in living memory.
We heard Nicola Blackwood, the Conservative, defend the NPPF policy. It had been good in principle but it did depend on local neighbourhood plans being in place to balance the developers. Those neighbourhood plans did not happen in time – so the NPPF was out of kilter.
As a result, local communities could not demonstrate that the harm being done socially and environmentally would outweigh the economic gains. Sally Copley, of Labour, said that social and environmental factors need to be given as much weight as economic.
On transport, Layla Moran, the LIb-Dem, and Nicola Blackwood, the Conservative, agreed that a long term shift from cars to cycling and public transport needed to be developed if Oxfordshire’s roads are to cope in future.
On the green belt most candidates said that it should only be built on in exceptional circumstances. Layla Moran said a full and open review was needed, not piecemeal attacks…
Next general husting is in Abingdon on 15th and I’ve asked Mike for a report as I’ve got a School Governors meeting at the same time. Mike did say after tonight’s hustings that he was suprised there had been no questions on the countryside.
