Your Oxford
Get involved: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting 'OXFORD NEWS' to 80360 or email »
'Eco-town firm are chickens'
11:13am Sunday 13th July 2008
Comments (23)Developers behind plans for a controversial eco-town near Bicester have been challenged to show their faces at a series of roadshows around the county.
A total of 651 people have turned up to look at the plans for the 15,000 home Weston Otmoor eco-town at 10 roadshows so far.
However, residents have complained that Parkridge representatives have not been at most of them to answer questions.
People who attended the Middleton Stoney consultation last Tuesday said they were upset that they were greeted by representatives from a local PR firm who were unable to answer their concerns about the plans.
Rachel Brewin, 26, a self-employed marketing consultant who lives in Bicester Road, Middleton Stoney, said: "I asked to speak to the Parkridge person at our roadshow but was told no-one was there.
"I think it's scandalous that the 'consultation' doesn't actually involve anyone from Parkridge - it makes me feel like it's just a big PR exercise and doesn't actually mean anything.
"Everybody agrees that houses need to be built in England, but I don't agree with the plans and I want to discuss it with someone in charge. I feel I've been denied access to the people who can really answer our questions."
Parkridge director Roger Sporle attended the first roadshow in Weston-on-the Green on June 29 and a transport consultant fielded questions in Wendlebury a day later, but neither has turned up since.
Those attending the roadshows are greeted by green-shirted representatives of Mistral PR, who say they are gathering views independently of the developers.
Miss Brewin said: "It smells of chicken to me that Parkridge haven't got the guts to come forward and meet us. I find it so patronising. Just because the PR people are dressed in green and all the plans are on green boards doesn't make the plans environmentally friendly."
Ambrodsden and Chest- erton councillor Andrew Fulljames, who also attended the Middleton Stoney roadshow last Wednesday, said: "It was a shame no-one from Parkridge was there to speak to us directly but I'm not surprised. I don't think the consultation is anymore than a box-ticking exercise."
Mistral spokesman Lisa Hide said: "Representatives from Parkridge will not be attending any more of the roadshows. They were only ever meant to attend the first two roadshows because Weston-on-the-Green and Wendlebury are the two closest villages to the proposed development.
"It's not the case at all that they've been scared off. We are gathering people's views on the plans independently. Questions asked at the roadshows will be put to Parkridge by us. We want to encourage as many people as possible to come along because we want people's views good or bad."
No-one from Parkridge was available to comment.
Your Say YourOxford Mail
John W. Whitworth, 042-530 says...
2:07pm Sun 13 Jul 08
I was told by Mistral that Parkridge weren't coming to ANY of the roadshows. When I pointed out I had a lot of questions they came at the last minute.
Mistral are lying about the green belt included in the site. It's 30% not 6%. They're building a tram on it.
The Parkridge transport consultant lied to me at the roadshow. He said the power station on the original plan which has now vanished was a greenhouse.
What a bunch of liars. Sue me if you dare.
Rockabilly Dude, Half Way To Memphis says...
2:34pm Sun 13 Jul 08
Bob, says...
3:54pm Sun 13 Jul 08
You have to face the fact that your standard of living has to come down to reflect the crowded island we live on.
You can no longer live in places like Middleton Stoney with your huge mortgages, and fool yourself into thinking that you are superior because you do not have "foreign looking" neighbours.
Welcome to the real world.
Tom, says...
3:58pm Sun 13 Jul 08
Like every other thing in this country it comes down to hard cash.
Mr Ison, England says...
6:39pm Sun 13 Jul 08
Is it two or simply one,themarketeer employed as controlled opposition.
Controlled opposition is the hallmark of the terrorist,would the MP for Henley weigh in?
There are not tens of thousand living within the villages crying out for a Ghetto.
Sick of Mr' Arseon, says...
6:49pm Sun 13 Jul 08
Mr Ison wrote:my name says enough
Two New Labour shill have commented,can you spot them? Is it two or simply one,themarketeer employed as controlled opposition. Controlled opposition is the hallmark of the terrorist,would the MP for Henley weigh in? There are not tens of thousand living within the villages crying out for a Ghetto.
Cllr Ken Tiwari (Parish)independent, Oxford says...
7:35pm Sun 13 Jul 08
areas come in to Banbury constituency? And not
Henly? The above writer is asking for Henley MP
I remember as I was SODLP/secretary, 20years ago.
quote
Mr Ison, England says...
8:50pm Sun 13 Jul 08
Looks like a lie,the first of many.
Rockabilly Dude, Half Way To Memphis says...
11:02pm Sun 13 Jul 08
Mr Ison, England says...
12:32am Mon 14 Jul 08
It isn't much,in fact it isn't anything.
I see the tax payer will be financing local councils buying their homes and renting them back.
Wealth redistibution in action.
What do we get for ever rising taxation?
We get to be impoverished.
What do they get from ever rising taxation?
They get to fill the world with their progeny.
You see the role of taxation has become a means of exterminating the tax payer.
Immigrants are sent in to ensure competive hostility,and generally serve to provide tax payed obfuscators with a knife to twist.
Local resident, Bicester says...
9:53am Mon 14 Jul 08
Tom, says...
5:41pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Local resident wrote:sour grapes,hope the new neighbours are nice.
This 'eco'-sham is such a FARCE! If they don't want people living there to use their cars, why build it next to the M40 and A34?! And how are 35,000 people going to be work in the area - most people who live in the area at the moment are forced to commute to Oxford, Birmingham or London for work. It's one convenient way of gettign a huge housing problem off central government's back. And has no-one else realised that all but one 'eco'-town is Tory heartland? Build cheap housing, get a load of labour voters in....?!
Rockabilly Dude, Half Way To Memphis says...
8:35pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Tim, Kidlington says...
9:14pm Mon 14 Jul 08
DGrover, Brill says...
10:41pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Surely a more environmentally sympathetic strategy would be to upgrade existing homes to zero-carbon status. On a per-dwelling basis, this would release 80-90% less CO2 compared a new build eco-dwelling, and will also reduce the overall CO2 output in the long term (with recovery in around 5 years).
I don't think arguments above about house prices are relevant either way, especially in these credit crunch times. We must tackle carbon emissions now by fixing existing problems (ie 30 million badly insulated houses!), not by more building and the destruction of carbon sinks!
DGrover, Brill says...
10:47pm Mon 14 Jul 08
Mr Ison, England says...
12:39am Tue 15 Jul 08
What if the demand was Browns cabinet constituencies took the 200,000 foreign overspill?
Och aye?
Phil Mannerville, Bicester says...
11:12am Tue 15 Jul 08
There are other reasons - and far, far more important ones than those related to house value or 'new neighbours'(?!!?) - that people are opposed to it for.
Tom, says...
6:40pm Tue 15 Jul 08
Phil Mannerville wrote:are you going to Fuc*ing tell us or what you NIMBY?
Dismissing those opposed to this 'eco'town as NIMBYs is simply lazy. There are other reasons - and far, far more important ones than those related to house value or 'new neighbours'(?!!?) - that people are opposed to it for.
Rockabilly Dude, Half Way to Memphis says...
8:33pm Tue 15 Jul 08
Phil Mannerville, Bicester says...
4:03pm Wed 16 Jul 08
Crib sheet for those unable to do the homework, WOTG says...
7:38pm Wed 16 Jul 08
2) Building a new town at this site messes up existing plans to develop Bicester, Kidlington and Didcot, so is not supported by district council, county council, or the regional assembly.
3) Moving those in need of affordable housing from all round the county all in together into high density housing next to a motorway, and then charging them to drive out of the place, is outrageous social engineering and a recipe for riots.
4) Building on the site will destroy a nature reserve and a natural habitat of national importance, and at least 25 % of the area is protected green belt
5) The eco-credentials of the proposal have been criticised by just about every environmental group, and shown to be weak in the extreme, if not entirely bogus.
6) The plans make clear this is only phase one of a scheme that needs to be able to grow. Where will it expand to?
7) OX26, Bicester, is cheaper than the national average for house prices, not under extreme affordability pressure as stated by the government.
8) The developer's plans for free transport for residents have been shown by expert analysis to be, in the kindest words, undeliverable with the money they have planned to spend on it. So the residents may not even have the free ride round the town that has been promised.
9) There has been rather a lot of information put out by the government about the proposal that has turned out to be misleading, to say the least - eg. the green belt will not be built on, the site is brown-field, the final decision will be up to the local planning process - all now shown to be untrue.
10) There are three quarters of a million empty homes in England already. A more ecologically sound strategy would be to restore them and create jobs in those areas, rather than bringing more development and people to the South East of England and building tens of thousands of new homes there.
I'm not a NIMBY. When these things happen on your doorstep it does make you look very closely and try to find out what's really going on. The villagers of Weston will not have half as bad a time as the 30,000 poor souls who are forced to live behind the gates of Weston Otmoor.
Rachel Brewin
In this section
- Fire and police investigators search torched pub
- Funeral date set for tragic Ty-Ree
- Suicides prompt closure of Oxford car park's top storey
- Thank you 55,000 times for OX5 Run cash
- Top cops' expenses published
- BREAKING NEWS: Fox & Hounds pub torched in 'arson' attack
- County crime figures show fall in offences
- Jools died in style, say parents
- Disabled upset by loss of Oxford parking spaces
- Pensioners welcome improved Oxford hospitals bus link
Sponsored Links
UK Debt Help and Advice | IVA help and advice | The truth about IVAs | Stay with Prague Hotels | Visit Spain with Barcelona Hotels
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Mr Ison, England says...
12:24pm Sun 13 Jul 08