Liberal Democrat Led Planning Committee Defers Valley Park

We are over the moon at the outcome of this evening’s Vale of White Horse District Council Planning Committee meeting – the committee agreed unanimously to DEFER the decision on the Valley Park planning application! This is great news, as it means there is now more time available for residents and councillors to really push for our own local vision of what Valley Park should be 

Deferring the application was voted for on the basis that further clarity needs to be sought on the following key issues with the Valley Park proposal before a decision can be made:

B4493 Roundabout between Harwell and Didcot – committee asked council officers to look at this design again and consider alternative options to make this monstrous 5-arm roundabout safer  and more accessible for cyclists. Thank you to the HarBUG – Harwell Bicycle Users Group and Sustainable Harwell for your excellent speeches on this issue, and special shout out to local resident Kate Stevenson Weal for your Facebook comment about an underpass on the roundabout – this sparked an entire debate the possibility of an underpass, bridge or another alternative solution to be explored in the design!

Healthcare Provision – the committee asked council officers to go back to the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group – OCCG once again to obtain a proper answer regarding the medical provision for Valley Park. This site would bring 10,000 new residents to the area and yet there is no provision in the plans for a GP surgery or any Primary Medical Care, primarily because the OCCG didn’t even respond to the consultation in the first place! Thank you to Patient Participation Group (PPG) chairman Stewart Lilly for speaking on behalf of  all 3 Didcot Medical Centres – we’re certain that your eye-opening statistics about the pressure our local services are under was key in influencing this decision.

Biodiversity – massive well done to Sally 4 Hendreds & Harwell for your fantastic speech raising the issues with biodiversity considerations on the site, including the protection of red kites. Thanks to you, the committee asked for the financial contributions from the developer relating to biodiversity off-setting (totalling £200,000) to be brought forward from a staged payment (after 1000th house is occupied) to a full amount paid upfront prior to commencement of the development. A brilliant win for protecting the natural environment before the first house is even built!

If you didn’t catch the meeting, you can catch up any time on the YouTube link below to see the speeches and debate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xZR4Ks-N3o

Finally, see the link below for our extensive written statement that we submitted to the committee in advance of the meeting (UPDATE: thank you Sustainable Harwell for hosting this on your website!). We used this statement to clearly lay out our objectives, with the council policies to back them up. Members of the committee commended us for the high quality of our statement!https://sustainable-harwell.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Ward-Councillors-Statement-Planning-Committee-16.02.21-Valley-Park-P14-V2873-O.pdf

Click here to watch Sarahs roundup (round about) view on Valley Park site.