Oxfordshire’s latest neighbourhood plan – for the Mid-Cherwell area – has been launched after three years of preparation. Unique in the UK because of its scale, the Mid-Cherwell area comprises eleven rural parishes in the Cherwell District of North Oxfordshire. At the heart of the neighbourhood area is the former RAF Upper Heyford airbase, now a strategic development site called Heyford Park, whose developer is also involved in the plan. It was this development that was the stimulus for many surrounding villages to get together to create a statutory plan covering the wider area for the next 15 years.
The hard work of the Forum, the body leading the plan and representing all the participating communities, has now resulted in a list of policies concerning traffic, housing development, and community infrastructure – including the proposed designation of 29 “Local Green Spaces”. The documents can be viewed online, from Monday August 7th, at Mid-Cherwell’s website www.mid-cherwell.org.uk and hard copies are available at local community centres, village halls and from the parish councils concerned.
Responses are invited from any interested parties, but especially residents and businesses in the area itself. The pre-submission consultation period starting on Monday, August 7th 2017, lasts for six weeks to Tuesday, September 19th , 2017. Following a review of all the responses, a final version of the plan will be submitted to Cherwell District Council before the end of the year. The plan will then be subject to independent examination and a referendum before becoming part of the statutory development plan for the area.
Contact Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan Forum at info@mid-cherwell.org.uk
The members of the Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan Forum are:
- Ardley with Fewcott Parish Council (lead parish)
- Duns Tew Parish Council
- Fritwell Parish Council
- Kirtlington Parish Council
- Lower Heyford Parish Council
- Middle Aston Parish Meeting
- Middleton Stoney Parish Council
- North Aston Parish Meeting
- Somerton Parish Council
- Steeple Aston Parish Council
- Upper Heyford Parish Council
- The Dorchester Group (associate member)
- Heyford Park Residents Association (associate member)