Press Release - 949 Residents Sign Petition Against Chalgrove Airfield

Chalgrove Airfield Action Group
Press Release – 11 th September 2017
949 sign petition against building 3,000 houses on Chalgrove Airfield.
A petition signed by almost 950 residents from the village of Chalgrove in South Oxfordshire is
to be heard by members of South Oxfordshire District Council's Scrutiny Committee when it
meets on Wednesday, 13th September.
The committee will consider the draft Local Plan for South Oxfordshire before it is voted on by
Full Council and then consulted on for purposes mainly of legality. It will then be submitted to
the Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government as the
blueprint for how the district should develop in the years up to 2033.
Paul Boone, Chariman of Chalgrove SHIELD, the action group presenting the petition to
SODC, will address the Committee at the public meeting. Mr Boone said: “Residents object
to this development for five key reasons - sustainability, infrastructure, transport services,
flooding and deliverability. We are yet to see any credible plans produced by the Homes
and Communities Agency to address these issues, despite almost a year and a half of time
consuming and expensive consultations”.
The role of the Scrutiny Committee is to hold the council to account. There are vast sums of
public expenditure concerning Chalgrove Airfield - in excess of £100 million, according to
government agency Homes & Communities Agency, which is promoting the airfield (Oxford
Mail 16th September 2016).
Last week the council was dubbed "rebel" by the leading planning trade press (Planning 7th
September) for the way in which it proposes to help the city of Oxford, which does not have
enough land to build the houses it needs.
South Oxfordshire's draft Local Plan allocates houses "in the heart" of the district, meaning
Chalgrove Airfield, some 12 miles from the city, to help Oxford. This has been furiously
opposed by Oxford City Council, Cherwell and West Oxfordshire District. The major land
owning colleges of the University of Oxford have called for the nationally important, world
class economy of the city to be properly supported by housing close to the city.
In South Oxfordshire's own consultation on its Local Plan, only 19 people supported building
3,000 houses on Chalgrove Airfield, and over 500 people opposed it.
Editor's note - Meeting of the Scrutiny Committee will be held in the The Auditorium,
Cornerstone Arts Centre, 25 Station Road, Didcot, OX11 7NE on Wednesday 13 SEPTEMBER
2017 at 6.30 PM
About the Chalgrove Airfield Action Group
Following the announcement of Chalgrove Airfield being South Oxfordshire District Council’s preferred option for a New
Town, the Chalgrove Airfield Action Group formed with the primary purpose of supporting Chalgrove’s response to the
consultation. Our mission now is to help Chalgrove and surrounding villages and hamlets to find sustainable alternatives to
excessive local development. We want to ensure that our elderly residents and children not only have access to affordable
homes, but also have somewhere to live that provides a safe environment without excessive and unnecessary traffic and
associated pollution.
For more information please contact press@chalgroveshield.org.uk
chalgroveshield.org.uk press@chalgroveshield.org.uk facebook.com/chalgroveshield