Shown above is the former pond at the southwest end of Wicklesham Quarry SSSI. Formerly 1.5 metres deep, the Restoration Scheme stated it MUST be protected. It was a Priority Habitat and documented breeding site for Great Crested Newts, a European Protected Species.
Depending on the weight County Council planners decide to attach to Faringdon neighbourhood plan in determining this planning application, the question of whether the proposal meets the conditions attached to the policy could become crucial. It is therefore an important issue to include along with any other objections, particularly since Faringdon Council supports the proposal.
There is a further consultation until 10th October on re-submitted documents, and an opportunity to register your views on the proposal for a major commercial/ industrial development at Wicklesham Quarry, Faringdon’s Site of Special Scientific Interest. The only difference in the applicants’ new submissions is a slight reduction in height to 18 metres (60 feet) for most of the vast blocks, and 15 metres for a couple next to the Vale Way bridleway. The floor area is now stated as 33,592 sq m. but the footprint appears to be exactly the same. Essentially it is the same proposal.
This is a chance to make further points on ANY issue, not just the amended documents, including points discussed here or in earlier updates. You can see the revised documents and respond here: https://myeplanning.oxfordshire.gov.uk/Planning/Comment/MW.0151/23/
Submit your views online (or by email to: planning@oxfordshire.gov.uk) by 10th October 2024. Please make your voice heard! This proposal would have a major impact on Faringdon and the surrounding area.
Do YOU think that the proposed development meets the ‘conditions’ that are part of the neighbourhood plan policy? This could be a critical issue, AND YOUR VIEWS COUNT.
POLICY 4.5B STATES:
“Employment development will be supported on this site if no other suitable sites closer to the town centre are available, providing there is demonstrable need and subject to the following criteria:
i) appropriate transport mitigation is provided;
ii) appropriate provision is made within the site for pedestrians and cyclists:
iii) the proposed employment development does not have a detrimental impact on the relationship between the site and the wider landscape in which it sits; and
iv) appropriate ecological mitigation and enhancement measures are incorporated into the proposals;
v) any development would not result in demonstrable harm to the geological special interest of the site;
vi) employment proposals should incorporate measures to provide access to the protected site for the visiting public.”
Does the application meet these conditions?
Faringdon has 7.4 acres of land South of Park Road allocated for employment use in the Local Plan, as well as other sites identified for redevelopment in the town itself. There are also empty offices and industrial units at Volunteer Way, Pioneer Road, RAC Estate and several at Market Place, to name a few. The creation of even more industrial/ office space outside the town itself is likely to make letting existing commercial properties even more difficult – in the same way that a growing number of town centre shops have remained empty, since ‘out of town’ shops were opened in Faringdon.
Faringdon's history of excess land allocation
It is worth remembering that the 4&20 site (Costa, Aldi, Waitrose) was reluctantly included in the Local Plan by the Vale for use as employment land, which the Town Council claimed was needed, but failed to attract a buyer from 2005 to 2015. By default the owners were then able to get permission to develop it for retail. This was an unplanned development as a result of allocating excess, unnecessary ‘employment land’. There is a pattern here, driven by local landowners for profit and supported by the town council. The inevitable result is vacant shops and offices and a declining town centre. This is what is meant by ‘undermining the strategic policies of the Local Plan’- and Faringdon is a prime example!
Evidence of ‘demonstrable need’
The application does not include any evidence of ‘demonstrable need’ for a major development (or even a small one) in this location. A resident who recently requested this evidence from the Town Council was referred to the neighbourhood plan itself (See https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/l_sims). In short, this ‘condition’ appears to be meaningless. The site has been offered for sale since 2021 without attracting a buyer, and there is every likelihood that the same process described above could be repeated.
i) ‘Appropriate transport mitigation is provided’
a) The proposed development could accommodate between 1,500 and over 2,000 employees, depending on its final uses. Two multi-storey car parks would provide a total of 440 spaces. That could leave more than 1,000 cars without on-site parking – even assuming 500 people walked or cycled every day to the quarry from Faringdon – which seems highly unlikely. Where would those excess cars park? There is only one possible answer: Faringdon.
b) No alterations to the road or junction network have been proposed to mitigate the traffic problems this huge development would generate, except: -
- a pedestrian crossing over the A420 for horses, cyclists and pedestrians, next to the roundabout;
- traffic lights on the A420 to allow vehicles exiting from Wicklesham to turn right;
- widening Park Road for a few yards to allow two lanes of queueing cars over a longer distance.
Local residents believe the problems for Faringdon and the surrounding area would include: -
- overspill parking in Faringdon
- longer delays & greater danger exiting junctions to the A420 (Park Rd, Coxwell Rd, Fernham Rd)
- roads through Faringdon used as rat-runs to avoid the A420
- increased congestion on the A420 and in Faringdon itself
- greater risks to life for drivers, pedestrians and horse riders on the A420
- more noise and air pollution generated by vehicles
iii) “The proposed employment development does not have a detrimental impact on the relationship between the site and the wider landscape in which it sits”
The development would fundamentally alter and degrade the character and appearance of the unspoiled rural landscape south of the A420. This is the view of the Landscape Officer, the Vale District Council, and Parish Councils including Great Coxwell, Little Coxwell, Uffington and Longcot, who have all objected to the location of the proposed development. This is agricultural land, part of the Midvale Ridge and West Oxfordshire Heights Conservation Target Area, noted for its high level of biodiversity and ‘undulating landscape’. Footpaths on three sides of the quarry, including the Vale Way bridleway, form rural connections between Faringdon, Wicklesham, the Coxwells and Fernham.
The applicants’ state that the development will be ‘hidden’ in the landscape or by trees. However, the quarry is not ‘screened’ from the south by trees on Galley Hill – it is overlooked by the footpaths over Galley Hill and on the Vale Way. The quarry is also visible along much of its length from the A420, because the road is considerably higher than the quarry. The buildings proposed are many times larger than any in Faringdon, and would introduce artificial light, noise, and air pollution into an area that is loved for its peace, tranquillity, wildlife and extensive views –all of which would be lost.
iv) “appropriate ecological mitigation and enhancement measures are incorporated into the proposals”
The preservation of two of Wicklesham’s naturalised ponds (created by the ground water level,) and Great Crested Newt population, which were surveyed and photographed in 2013 by Enzygo Ltd, was part of the Restoration Scheme of the quarry. Before any restoration had been carried out both ponds disappeared. The applicants now state that “as pond basins have remained dry for several years this has rendered the proposed development site unsuitable for the maintenance of a viable breeding Great Crested Newt population.”
The 2023 report by Groundtech Consulting (submitted with the application) recorded the depth of the ‘made ground’ added to the base as 3 metres next to what had been the deepest pond (pictured here). Yet this is now a shallow, mostly dry ditch, barely lower than the surrounding built-up ground level. Before any material had been added to the base the large pond was around 1.5 metres deep and held a metre depth of water. What happened to the ponds is self-evident: they were filled in.
However, the quarry now has other water bodies recorded by the monitoring officer, which seem to hold water all year round. Ecologists' reports to the consultation process state that the quarry remains a viable habitat for Great Crested Newts, and officers have urged that at least one of the original ponds should be reinstated. No proposal to do so is included in the application.
v) “any development would not result in demonstrable harm to the geological special interest of the site”
Eminent Professors of Geology, Keith Jeffery and Mark Wilson have stated that buildings or roads on the base of the quarry will prevent access for scientific research to the 50 metre deep Faringdon Sponge Gravels- at the only location in the world where this unique geological formation is known to exist. The Geological Society has expressed concern at the proposal to build on the SSSI, and many geologists, including the late Professor Norman Snelling, supported the petition to Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development. The Site of Special Scientific Interest is over 29 acres: if it is built on, virtually the whole area of the SSSI will disappear. According to all these expert views it is incontrovertible that building on the quarry base will cause ‘demonstrable harm’ to the SSSI.
vi) “employment proposals should incorporate measures to provide access to the protected site for the visiting public”
No specific measures appear to have been described in the proposals.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Does the proposed development at Wicklesham Quarry SSSI satisfy ANY of the ‘conditions’ of Policy 4.5B of Faringdon Neighbourhood Plan? Please submit your views to the consultation before 10th October: https://myeplanning.oxfordshire.gov.uk/Planning/Comment/MW.0151/2
We need as many submissions to the consultation as possible to Protect Wicklesham Quarry from Development. DON'T STOP NOW!
Get in touch by email to: protectwicklesham@gmail.com