The Green Belt and the South East Plan
This picture has been taken from the final pages of the report discussed below, produced by Halcrow. It is not easy to see exactly where the shaded area is, but by comparing with a similar map from streetmap.co.uk you an identify the area.
Many Oxfordshire people will be aware that there is another threat to the green belt. An area south of Grenoble Road is being put forward as a space for some 4000 homes. Magdalen College and Thames Water are behind this plan which is supported by the Oxford City Council. South Oxford District Council (SODC) in whose area the land lies, are against this proposal but are feeling that they are up against powerful forces against them.
There are three major documents which are important in this proposal. The South East Plan, the Government Office for the South East(GOSE) report on the plan and a consultant's report (HALCROW) on the impact of development of this site on local transport. All these reports are available on the internet but all are quite large. Here I will try to summarise the sections of the report relevant to parishioners.
All the documents can be obtained from the South East Plan examination in public web site,
http://www.eipsoutheast.co.uk. References for each document will be given as they occur in the text below.
Report on the south east plan by Halcrow- Oxfordshire Council SE Plan EiP Grenoble Road Final Report Jan 2007 ref SOXDC2 from eipsoutheast.co.uk (go to document centre on this website, then at bottom of list see Participants documents, click on this, then go to letter S in indexed list to see reference SOXDC2)
This report was done in January 2007 on the impact of the development on local transport. It appears to offer severe reservations on how local transport will cope with an influx of such a large number of new residents. It is the only one of the document to include a map of the proposed area.
The Halcrow report comments on and refers to a draft Transport Strategy produced by Peter Brett Associates intended to proposed new roads and public transport to support the new development. I can find no reference for this document on the eipsoutheast website or anywhere else. However, from the comments in the Halcrow report it is clear that a new roundabout south of Sandford on the A4074 , a new Park and Ride with 800-1200 parking spaces adjacent to the roundabout, and a new spine road from the new roundabout through the south boundary of the site ending at the Grenoble road/Guelder Road roundabout are all proposed.
In its conclusions the Halcrow report says in section A1.8 that the location of the proposed development, on the periphery of the city and outside the ring road means that providing reliable and attractively timetabled bus services will be a challenge. However, given the congested road network and the limited availability of parking in the city centre, such a bus service will have to be the most practical option. The key consideration is whether, given the peripheral nature of the development, the site will prove more attractive to commuters away from Oxford rather than commuters into Oxford.