Cherwell Local Plan 2042 - KDW’s response

Cherwell District Council’s current local plan (running to 2031) includes sites for 4,400 new houses and other development in the Green Belt around us. None of this development has started yet and we haven’t experienced its consequences. So we think it’s important that no more Green Belt should be lost.

The Council has now put forward a new plan to run to 2042. The 4,400 houses already planned remain in it but we are pleased to say that the Council is proposing no further Green Belt development.

We also think that Cherwell’s 2042 Plan provides an opportunity for Kidlington. At the first stage of consultation (in 2020), the Parish Council proposed a “Green Ring”: a network of linked green spaces surrounding the village in order to help preserve Kidlington’s distinct identity and countryside setting.

Kidlington Development Watch (KDW) supported this and, in subsequent consultations, put forward several ideas for how this green network might be achieved in practice. This included proposals for three new Local Green Spaces (a formal planning designation) which are shown on the map below.

Other elements of the Green Ring are also shown on the map and include:

• several new green areas to be created as a condition of the new development in the 2031 plan. These are shaded in bright green on the map and include areas to the west of the canal (as part of site PR8), a new nature conservation area as part of site PR7b (Stratfield Farm), and a sports area south of site PR7a.

• areas of land around the village which are already protected nature conservation sites including Rushy Meadows, Langford Meadows, the Woodland trust reserve at Stratfield Brake and St Mary’s Fields.
• other areas which must remain ‘green’ because they are in flood zones, such as the land north and east of Water Eaton Lane
• the existing rights of way and other public paths around Kidlington which, together with short stretches of road, form an almost continuous circuit around the village connecting the various green areas. There is scope for improving the condition of these routes, including a proposal for an improved route following the canal.

The three new Local Green Spaces we propose include the areas of unspoilt countryside to the north and north east of the village which we know are much valued by residents. However, this land does not have any protection or designation other than Green Belt and while this should be enough, we know that, in practice, it isn’t. Our three new proposed LGS are:

1. Bury Moor Fields
2.  St Mary’s Conservation Area Green Space
3. Stratfield Brake

KDW’s earlier submission to Cherwell District Council detailing the proposed  Local Green Spaces can be downloaded here.

Local Green Space is a formal planning designation which was introduced over ten years ago in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Councils can designate land as LGS in their Local Plans and this gives protection similar to Green Belt land. Government Planning Guidance specifically states that, in the Green Belt, LGS designation “could help to identify areas that are of particular importance to the local community”.

1.  in reasonably close proximity to the community it serves;
2. demonstrably special to a local community, with a particular local significance, for example because of its beauty, historic significance, recreational value, tranquillity or richness of its wildlife;
3. local in character and not an extensive tract of land.

A Local Green Space can be in private ownership and not accessible to the public, or only accessible over rights of way. (This would be the case with two of the LGS we propose.) Designation does not change access or current use unless negotiated with the landowner but does protect the land from built development.

The current consultation can be found on Cherwell’s website at:

https://cherwell.citizenspace.com/planning-policy/cherwell-local-plan-review-2042

Here you can find full details of the plan which you can download or you can view the document online.