Petition to Oppose the Planning Appeal for the Housing Development and Care Home near Sandhills, Oxford (OX3 8ED)

To the Planning Inspectorate:

We, the undersigned residents and stakeholders of Sandhills, Oxford, and the surrounding area, strongly oppose the appeal for the proposed housing development and care home near Sandhills (OX3 8ED). This appeal disregards critical legal, environmental, and safety concerns, as well as the community's well-being and the sustainability of the site.

Key Concerns

We urge the Planning Inspectorate to uphold the decision to reject this development for the following reasons:

Legal Access Issues:

• The development lacks legal access to the site, requiring use of a bridleway on unregistered land.
• The subsoil rights of local householders present further legal obstacles that remain unresolved.

Traffic and Safety Concerns:

• The narrow 1930s-era roads around the site are ill-equipped to handle the increase in traffic.
• The development poses significant risks to children walking to school, especially along the bridleway, as the area lacks sufficient pedestrian infrastructure to accommodate the proposed traffic volume safely.

Loss of Valuable amenity:

• The site is designated as green belt, and its development represents a loss of a valuable amenity detrimental to the health and wellbeing of residents and local visitors.

Environmental Impact:

• The site hosts complex habitats (eg for barbastelle bats and a protected Bayswater Brook) that would be permanently lost if the development proceeds, and which cannot be replicated anywhere else.

Unsustainability of the Site:

• The development fails to meet sustainability criteria, placing undue strain on local infrastructure, including roads and public services, sewage and wastewater treatment without providing adequate long-term benefits to the community.
• Does not meet the stipulated Local Plan condition as a low or no car development.
   

Our Request

We respectfully urge the Planning Inspectorate to reject this appeal and uphold the original refusal issued by South Oxfordshire District Council and Oxford City Council. Approval of this appeal would set a dangerous precedent for bypassing legal and environmental safeguards, disregarding community interests, and undermining the integrity of the green belt.