It is to be hoped that Oxford City Council has really learned its lesson from the shameful debacle of the Castle Mill flats.

Leaving aside the fact that the visual impact was either wilfully dismissed or negligently misunderstood, the council was warned by numerous campaigners before the buildings had reached anything like fully height that there would be consequences.

So here’s the next thing. The railway works for the Oxford-Bicester line which forms part of the Strategic Freight Network will have a hugely detrimental impact, with noise and vibrations, on many residents who live nearby the route.

The railway companies have yet to comply with a planning condition... known as Condition 19... to ensure that mitigation measures are used to prevent noise and vibration exceeding certain thresholds.

Apparently, Arup, the consultancy asked by the council to look at the vibration studies have stated that the railway companies are underestimating by a factor of four the amount of vibration that will result.

The council has apparently yet to sign off on the planning conditions, yet it would seem they have had no reply from the railway companies as to the intended mitigation (e.g. speed limits, track-bed structure).

The noise thresholds have been applied for Crossrail, HS1 and HS2 so we expect the same standard for Oxford. Please can we be assured that the council will not do another “Castle Mill” on us and sweep everything under the carpet?

Putting a few trees in front of the Castle Mill flats as a mitigation measure doesn’t cut it, and it sure as heck won’t do anything to stop noise and vibration from thundering freight trains.

Jane Hargreaves
Merrivale Square
Oxford

Today’s letters

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