‘Hypocrisy’ claim as house plans vetoed (From Oxford Mail)

‘Hypocrisy’ claim as house plans vetoed

1:00pm Monday 10th December 2012 in News By Tom Jennings, covering Witney and West Oxfordshire. Call me on 01865 425403

A HOMEOWNER is furious a council has stopped him building a house in his back garden, but earmarked fields opposite his property for 700 homes.

Brize Norton resident Don Pilbeam, 69, hoped to build a four-bedroom house in the back garden of his Burford Road home but West Oxfordshire District Council rejected the scheme.

It was partly turned down because planners thought it would damage the character of Burford Road and put undue pressure on the highway network.

But the district council has earmarked land off Burford Road as ‘Carterton East’ – a site for 700 homes in its draft core strategy, the blueprint for where homes will be built in West Oxfordshire until 2029.

Mr Pilbeam said: “It was rejected even though it overlooks nobody.

“One of the reasons the planning application was rejected was that they said it would spoil the character of Burford Road. But now they are happily looking at building 700 houses all the way along the Burford Road and completely destroying it and the village of Brize Norton.

“We are supposed to live in a fair society. I am absolutely livid.”

Mr Pilbeam put in the application in March this year and it was turned down in June.

He lodged an appeal last month.

The council said the application did not meet the definition of infilling, and was out of keeping with other houses in the area.

The plan was also refused because the council felt it would set a harmful precedent which would make it difficult to resist similar development along Burford Road.

Mr Pilbeam said: “When we bought the property some 28 years ago we bought it with the view it could be developed in the future.

“We are just about to retire so any extra funds that could be released would have been handy.”

Chris Hargraves, district council planning policy manager, said: “We do not believe Mr Pilbeam’s planning application and the local plan proposal for Carterton East are comparable.

“What is being proposed on land at Carterton East is a strategic development which will help to meet wider needs and provide a number of benefits such as a new school and affordable housing.

“The site has been identified following a detailed assessment of a number of different options.

“The design of any new development would have to be carefully planned to complement the surrounding environment and would include necessary landscape improvements to help minimise the impact.”