Faringdon Council’s vainglorious belief that it can use a neighbourhood plan to ‘beat’ the planning system will have a spin-off councillors have clearly failed to understand. If Oxfordshire County Council grants planning permission for a huge industrial infrastructure project at Wicklesham Quarry, it WILL result in a further housing allocation which could be between 1,000 and 2,000 houses, depending on the eventual uses of the 46,000 square metre development.

This is how the formula for new housing distribution is calculated - as the landowner is aware. His calculation is shown above: he has put forward the whole of Wicklesham Lodge Farm, south of the A420, as building land- for what could be a doubling of the footprint of the town. THIS IS A WHOLLY REALISTIC PROSPECT, for which local people have to thank FARINGDON COUNCIL, whose relationship with this landowner DICTATED THE POLICY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN.

Two weeks ago the Town Council voted TO SUPPORT the landowner’s outrageous application for a development of over 46,000 square metres- which will obliterate the 29 acre Site of Special Scientific Interest, leaving barely a quarter of an acre strip around the edge next to the quarry faces. If used as office space a development of this scale could accommodate 3,800 workers;* as industrial space it would be around 1,930 workers.* Whatever the final figure, the number of new jobs would automatically trigger the housing and employment formula. This is because Faringdon ALREADY has a strategic allocation of employment land, based on OBJECTIVE DATA and EVIDENCE in the Local Plan. Any significant amount of employment land in excess of the already sufficient allocation WILL result in a substantial requirement for new housing. It won’t be up for debate.

THE SPATIAL STRATEGY AND HOUSING FORMULA: HOW IT WORKS

The Local Plan's Spatial Strategy to “focus sustainable growth within the Science Vale Area” means that of a total of 23,000 expected new jobs between 2011 and 2031, almost 70% are predicted to be within the Science Vale area. This means that “The majority (almost 75%) of our strategic housing growth is allocated within close proximity to these key Science Vale business locations.” (Local Plan Part One: Spatial Stratey, P. 47)

The “objectively assessed housing need” for the Vale of White Horse District from 2011-2031 is 20,560 new homes, plus an “agreed quantum of Oxford’s unmet housing need” (Local Plan Part One P. 17). The formula above means that around 15,850 new houses will be located in the Science Vale area.

However, if a small market town like Faringdon creates a neighbourhood plan seeking to create a major industrial development - AGAINST THE SPATIAL STRATEGY –– THEN IT MUST EXPECT THE HOUSING ALLOCATION THAT WILL GO WITH IT. If Faringdon Councillors imagine that they can encourage one kind of growth without the other, they are deluded.

This is exactly why, since 2008, the Vale of White Horse District Council has repeatedly REJECTED Wicklesham Quarry as a strategic employment site- because it is “far in excess of Faringdon’s needs”, as well as being “outside the settlement boundary”. The District Council turned down Wicklesham Quarry most recently in 2016, in the Written Examination of the Local Plan 2031, and said that Faringdon Council had produced "no clear or persuasive evidence" to allocate or promote any additional sites. In stating this, the District Council also referred directly to Wicklesham Quarry.

THE LOCAL PLAN

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that a Local Plan “should be the most appropriate strategy, when considered against the reasonable alternatives, based on proportionate evidence”.     This means it must be:

(a) positively prepared (b) justified (c) effective, and (d) consistent with national policy.  

This must be demonstrated at Examination. However -       

     ***NONE of these requirements apply to a neighbourhood plan***

Believe it or not - a neighbourhood plan can be unsound, unjustified, and NOT based on objective evidence. Faringdon neighbourhood plan is a prime example.

However, in order to prevent the most biased and inappropriate aberrations a neighbourhood plan MUST MEET THE ‘BASIC CONDITIONS’. This includes the requirement to be in GENERAL CONFORMITY WITH THE STRATEGIC POLICIES CONTAINED IN THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN.

Neighbourhood Planning Policy Guidance states

“Paragraph 13 of the National Planning Policy Framework is clear that neighbourhood plans should support the delivery of strategic policies contained in local plans and spatial development strategies.” (Para 070)

It is the role of the examiner to assess whether or not a neighbourhood plan meets the basic conditions. In the case of Faringdon neighbourhood plan, which passed examination, the High Court later ruled that -  “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.” 

Faringdon’s neighbourhood plan is in conflict with the Local Plan- a situation for which the Vale of White Horse District Council is responsible.

IF LOCAL PEOPLE DO NOT ACT TO PREVENT THIS TRAVESTY, FARINGDON MUST EXPECT TO FACE THE UNAVOIDABLE CONSEQUENCES OF A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN LOCAL HOUSING. Almost inevitably, that will mean the town expanding south of the A420, probably as the landowner anticipates above.

If you wish to support the campaign to Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development, you can receive further updates - which may include calls for help -  by signing the petition. Please DO NOT ‘chip in’ to promote the petition. This might seem like an odd request, but what we need are LOCAL supporters, willing to help. (Obviously we do really appreciate the support of everyone who has signed the petition- but growing the numbers is not the main requirement for this campaign.)

Please get in touch by emailing: protectwicklesham@gmail.com