According to Oxfordshire County Council Faringdon is in the South-East Vale! The Local Plan’s Spatial Strategy for the South East Vale includes “an ambitious programme of job creation and growth for the Science Vale area”, “which has been identified as a strategic priority of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP)”. This crass mistake in the Report to Councillors is one of series of substantial errors including legal and factual errors, misdirections and missing information.

Over a month after County Councillors resolved to approve a development of 29,573 sq. m on top of Wicklesham Quarry Site of Special Scientific Interest by one vote, no decision has been made and therefore the County Council must continue to take into account all material considerations.

I have written to Robin Rogers, Director of Economy and Place:

“It is clear that Councillors' resolution to approve was based on their trust in a Report that contained numerous substantial errors, inaccurate legal information and assumptions, mistaken beliefs about the location of Wicklesham Quarry, and failure to correctly identify policies of the development plan and national policies relevant to the application, as well as missing information and flawed directions on a number of matters.”

NO HARM TO THE SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST?! who are they kidding?

One of the most serious fictions in the Report is the claim that building on top of the SSSI “would not be likely to result in the loss, deterioration or harm to geological conservation interests, subject to conditions”.

The Report withheld from Councillors objections by the UK’s leading science bodies, the Geological Society and the Palaeontological Association, which state exactly the opposite. It also failed to tell Councillors that almost the whole of the SSSI would be de-notified if it were built over. This means the proposal is in conflict with Local Plan Policy CP46 - Conservation and Improvement of Biodiversity.

GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE- SITES OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST states: “Natural England will only de-notify a SSSI in exceptional cases. For example, if the site’s special interest is lost and cannot be restored as a result of:

• natural causes
• granting planning permission for development”

 De-notification of almost the whole site is what would happen at Wicklesham Quarry, one of the country’s most important SSSIs, and the only site in the world where scientists can access the unique fossils of the Faringdon Sponge Gravels for research.

The Chief Scientist Directorate at Natural England has confirmed that almost the whole of the SSSI would be de-notified if it is built on: only sections of the walls would remain.

Members of the public listened in disbelief as an Officer told County Councillors there was ‘no objection’ to building on top of the SSSI. I have cited statements from the objections of the UK’s leading science bodies in my letter to Robin Rogers.

Further material considerations include:

• Flawed reliance on a non-strategic neighbourhood plan policy to justify a major strategic development. The proposed development is two to three times the size of Faringdon’s ‘objectively assessed need’ for employment land. It is not intended to meet local needs.
• Failure to inform Councillors of the planning history of Wicklesham Quarry, which has been rejected repeatedly as a strategic employment site for the Local Plan- because it is “far in excess of Faringdon’s needs” and “outside the settlement boundary”;
• Misdirecting Councillors to ignore the material consideration of seeking to set a precedent and provide a justification for further unplanned development (2,500 houses);
• Failing to consider harmful impacts on the valued landscape of the Midvale Ridge National Character Area;
• Failure to have regard to the National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Practice Guidance with regard to neighbourhood plans and the requirement of conformity to the strategic policies of the Local Plan;
• Failure to have regard to the National Planning Policy Framework with regard to the meaning of sustainability for neighbourhood planning;
• Failure of the planning application to meet the requirements of the County Council's Validation List;
• Giving incorrect information to Councillors regarding the 'unarguable conflict' between Policy 4.5B and the strategic policies of the local Plan, as ruled by the High Court;
• Failing to give Councillors accurate information regarding the High Court's ruling against the District Council's unlawful decision with regard to Policy 4.5B, on which this application depends
   

WHAT ARE YOUR COUNCILLORS DOING ABOUT ALL THIS??

NO DECISION HAS YET BEEN MADE. MAKE SURE YOUR LOCAL COUNCILLORS ARE WORKING FOR YOU WHEN YOU REALLY NEED THEM:  WHAT HAPPENS AT WICKLESHAM QUARRY WILL HAVE PERMANENT IMPACTS ON FARINGDON, THE WESTERN VALE, AND OUR WORLD-FAMOUS SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST, WICKLESHAM QUARRY SSSI.

Please send your concerns as soon as possible to Director of Economy and Place, Robin Rogers, and local County Councillors, Bethia Thomas and Emma Markham, and District Councillors, Viral Patel and Katherine Foxhall.  

robin.rogers@oxfordshire.gov.uk       bethia.thomas@oxfordshire.gov.uk                    viral.patel@whitehorsedc.gov.uk       katherine.Foxhall@whitehorsedc.gov.uk Emma.Markham@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Please keep in touch and send your comments and queries to: protectwicklesham@gmail.com