The land behind the George in Littlemore is regularly used for charitable events and much needed parking; and is vital to the community.  The space there is used by families to meet throughout the year.  It allows children a space to run while parents can enjoy the pub garden.

It also is a favourable environment for wildlife; including bats which have been seen to nest there and also use the land to forage.  Bats are a protected species under both domestic and international laws.  To destroy a bats breeding and resting place is against the law.  Please refer to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the Conservation of Habitats and Species regulations 2017 for exact wording and definitions.

The plan that has been put forward, takes this space away from the community and the wildlife; and has no consideration for the charitable work held there which supports local charities, or how it will impact residents nearby when people cannot park at The George.

The community events held there have raised a vast amount of money for various charities (Anthony Nolan trust, Cancer Research, Prostate Cancer UK, our local hospice Sobell House to name a few).

The George has also organised events that have helped raise much needed funds for Littlemore Parish; has helped to repair Littlemore Village Hall, and has also supported the local church, local schools and playgroups.

The overall amount raised for charities runs into it’s thousands.

The space allocated to the George for parking in the recent planning application is no where near enough.  The George has 7 darts teams and also two Aunt Sally teams.  It also has a Pool team.  The Aunt Sally league and the darts leagues run concurrently on Tuesday and Wednesday evening.  When these events are running in the evenings, where are people expected to park?  There is no where nearby.  For some people this is all they have as an opportunity to meet up with friends and take part as a valued member of a team; which is crucial for those who are combatting depression and feelings of loneliness.  The George is one of the only local pubs left that doesn’t do food and still caters for for pub games.

The George is more than a pub; it is a social hub for residents and people not only in Littlemore, but in the Oxford area.

Regular events there include holding dinners for the over 60’s which encourages the elderly to come out of their homes and meet up with each others on a monthly basis.  I believe one of the regulars to these dinners is 100 years old.  If you take away the parking, you take away the opportunity for our older generation to meet up and combat loneliness; bearing in mind that some that attend have limited mobility and their only mode of transport to attend is to be picked by local volunteers in their own cars.  It is unreasonable to expect local residents to pay £5 minimum fare for a taxi to attend this social event which means so much to the people that use it.

Without the car park, this will also impact the local community as people will have no choice but to park on the street; therefore causing upset to local residents.  Not only this, the parking area is used by parents and carers as a safe place to park, who collect their children from the nearby Emmanuel Christian school.  Taking away the parking spaces will mean there is no where safe for parents & carers to park apart from the busy main road outside of it.

We hereby sign this petition to oppose the current planning application ref: 20/00934/FUL due to the reasons above.