People took part in a 'protest walk' against plans to build a logistics hub on the Oxford green belt.

More than 250 people from across the county and Buckinghamshire walked on the Oxfordshire Way footpath on Sunday which crosses Waterstock and Waterstock Golf Course next to the M40.

ALSO READ: Waterstock golf club development plan 'puts wildlife in danger'

They are against plans by developers Greystoke, to replace the 200-acre golf course on the green belt with an industrial warehousing centre and lorry park next to Waterstock’s Designated Local Wildlife Site Waterstock Flood Meadows.

Oxford Mail:

Greystoke has submitted the site for development in the forthcoming Oxfordshire Local Plan and if accepted it would be removed from the green belt and developed. 

This would see the loss of the golf course and public footpaths which cross the course, including The Oxfordshire Way.  

Co-ordinator of the walk and Waterstock resident Henry Manisty says: “This is yet another threat to Oxford’s green belt.  The large number of walkers testifies to the widespread local opposition to the threat and how popular this green space is. 

Oxford Mail: The red outline marks the space where the warehouses will beThe red outline marks the space where the warehouses will be

ALSO READ: Waterstock Golf Club under threat as warehouse plans loom

"We have limited time to raise awareness because the final list of sites will be published by the council in early summer.

"If Covid-19 has only taught us anything it’s how important green spaces are for our mental health and wellbeing. So concreting over a much-used local amenity on green belt is mad.”

Oxford Mail:

The walkers were accompanied by MP for Henley, John Howell; Oxfordshire County Councillor Tim Bearder; as well as Conservation Trusts, Countryside Groups, Ramblers, and other supporters.

Greystoke Land previously told us that 'with the emerging circumstances of the ‘new normal’, Oxfordshire and the wider region are in need of strategically located logistics hubs'.

The site would provide 3,500 jobs which would mainly be white collar roles such as IT and managerial, while the construction process of the warehouses would provide 140 jobs.

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