The owners of Wicklesham Quarry have put forward the WHOLE of Wicklesham Lodge Farm as a development site for housing, industry and retail. It would  DOUBLE the size of Faringdon  The pink block south of the A420 is an area of over 362 acres, stretching from the A417 more than half way to Fernham. If a monstrous industrial estate (seven 80' blocks, a data centre and 2 multi-storey car parks) at Wicklesham Quarry is passed, it will be used to justify a HUGE further increase in housing, retail and employment land.  Developers would build housing from Faringdon to Great Coxwell - already proposed, as you can see above. This is the likely consequence of allowing Wicklesham Quarry to be turned into a vast industrial estate. Don't let Faringdon sleepwalk into this nightmare. OBJECT NOW to the current screening application. https://myeplanning.oxfordshire.gov.uk/Planning/Display/MW.0140/23/

The map above is from the Vale of White Horse District Councils ‘Call for Land’ web page, in preparation for the next Local Plan. You can see the map and read the linked proposal by clicking on the pink block at: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/83c42d77f9104794a8cb49a815ff2352

HELP STOP THIS NOW!! Submitting sites for development does not guarantee that the District Council will include these sites in the Local Plan – but this is how it starts. And that is how it started at Wicklesham Quarry SSSI- which STILL has planning conditions that require it to be returned to agriculture- in spite of billboards advertising it as a ‘development opportunity’.

The owners agreed to these planning conditions in order to reap enormous profits from quarrying - but when it came to keeping their promise, they repeatedly failed to restore the quarry (even ignoring a Breach of Conditions Notice), until local people brought a High Court case in 2017. (You can read the whole story in the ‘Updates’ linked to the main Petition page.)

 From 2008 The Vale of White Horse District Council resisted pressure to include Wicklesham Quarry SSSI in the Local Plan as an industrial estate. It was found to be unsustainable and ‘far in excess’ of Faringdon’s needs, as well as being located outside the town in a protected area of landscape. The Vale's words are returning to haunt us now. Faringdon Council handed control of the neighbourhood plan to the landowners and their agent, Marriotts, in 2012, with predictable results. This neighbourhood plan set out to mislead local people, and has been wholly discredited. It:-

• Wrongly claims Wicklesham Quarry is a ‘brownfield site’
• Fails to tell people that the quarry is a Priority Habitat for a European Protected Species
• Fails to state that it is part of West Oxford Heights Conservation Target Area
• Used fictional ‘data’ written by the landowners to justify the policy
• Is in conflict with the Local Plan, because the quarry is OUTSIDE the town 
• Tried unlawfully to over-ride the planning conditions, which are a County Matter

This fraudulent neighbourhood plan is STILL on Faringdon Council’s website- with all the ‘errors’ still contained in crucial documents such as the Basic Conditions Statement, Sustainability Appraisal and Evidence Base- even though a High Court Judge upheld all the facts listed above and stated:

“Neither the examiner nor the District Council were lawfully satisfied that the FNP satisfied the basic condition that the making of the plan was in general conformity with the strategic policies contained in the development plan”.

 Supporters of Wicklesham Quarry have written to Faringdon Councillors and begged them to 'Do the right thing'. We have been ignored.

 Don’t let developers dictate the future of Faringdon and destroy the landscape of the Mid-Vale Ridge in order to line their own pockets. It starts with Wicklesham Quarry, Faringdon's unique and internationally famous Site of Special Scientific Interest and an important environmental site.

Register your objections NOW to the huge industrial infrastructure proposal at Wicklesham Quarry SSSI- including seven 80’ high buildings, 2 multi-storey car parks, and a data centre. 

Visit Oxfordshire County Council’s website and click on the ‘Comment’ button:  https://myeplanning.oxfordshire.gov.uk/Planning/Display/MW.0140/23/

IMPORTANT: Please keep a copy of your comments for the full application, expected SOON. And please send a link to this update to all your friends in Faringdon and the Vale villages. WE MUST ACT TOGETHER BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

Get in touch by email: protectwicklesham@gmail.com