A charity will launch another legal challenge in opposition to proposals for dozens of homes on the edge of ancient woodland.

Rushy Bank lies in the Evenlode Valley, in the Cotswolds Area of Natural Beauty, 400 metres from the edge of Charlbury.

West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) approved plans for 25 homes and a 12-bedroom supported living facility at the site in November 2015.

Oxford Mail: Development site at Rushy Bank near Charlbury

However the decision was successfully challenged by conservationists, who argued the adjoining ancient woodland could not be protected, and the planning consent was revoked by the High Court in July 2017.

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At that hearing the judge said the council had displayed a “material and significant misunderstanding” of Natural England’s advice which referred to the need for a minimum 15-metre buffer around all ancient woodlands.

Following some amendments the application was then reapproved by WODC – subject to a legal agreement including parking details, a surface water drainage scheme and a construction management plan – in January 2020.

These included an obligation to build a minimal five-metre buffer although the charity warned that the plans remained in breach of policy and national guidance.

The charity also claims that the development was commenced unlawfully.

Oxford Mail: Rushy Bank

In the latest application, which has received hundreds of objection comments online, the developer replaces the 12-bed supported living facility with 12 dwellings. 

Meanwhile Friends of the West Oxfordshire Cotswolds has been granted permission for another judicial review hearing.

A date has been set for January 16 and a High Court judge has granted the charity permission to challenge the council on all of the four grounds that it has set out.

The charity said  the affected woodland "has already been ruthlessly felled in advance of attempts to start the development" and the woodland’s replanting has still not been started.

James Whitehead, a trustee of the charity, said: “Ancient woodlands are some of our most precious natural resources.

"The District Council needs to take a lead in protecting it rather than be at the forefront of consenting to its harm.

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"At the moment they are using taxpayers’ money to defend a position which we think is indefensible.”

The Woodland Trust is supporting the charity.

It said: “Ancient woodlands are an irreplaceable cornerstone of the British landscape. Hundreds of ancient woods across the UK are currently threatened from new development and it is often left to local people and community groups to do what they can to protect them.

“We are buoyed by the care and love that FOWOC have shown for their local ancient woodland."

West Oxfordshire District Council has been contacted for comment. It has previously denied any flaw in its approval.