LAND between Wallingford and Cholsey previously earmarked for a massive gravel extraction pit has been sold to an unknown buyer.

The 165-acre plot west of Wallingford Road went for more than the £2.13m asking price, an agent says.

Jonathan Greaves, of Henley’s Simmons and Sons, would not confirm who had bought the site from owners the Bosely Trust. The trust could not be reached for comment.

He said: “There were three very competitive bids and all bidders were aware there was gravel beneath.”

The land was marked for gravel extraction under Oxfordshire County Council’s previous minerals strategy, scrapped at the beginning of this year. The council is now drawing up a new strategy that includes land south of the River Thames near Culham.

Cholsey county councillor Mark Gray said residents were keen to preserve a footpath known as the Agatha Christie Trail, along the border of the site, which was walked by the author on Sundays from her home in Winterbrook, Wallingford to church in Cholsey.

In recent years Cholsey Parish Council has spent £3,500 on kissing gates and signs for the site. Mr Gray said a firm could apply to extract gravel at the site, but as long as the county council could demonstrate it had a sufficient supply it could refuse.

 

Our top stories

 

 

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.