Ducklington villagers are ‘devastated’ after a developer won its appeal to build 120 homes on an ancient meadow due to what has been as described as 'a technicality'.

Ainscough Strategic Land was unanimously refused permission by West Oxfordshire District Council's planning committee in March 2022 to build on open land known as Moors Field over fears the village would sprawl into Witney.

The planning inspector acknowledged that the council and local residents considered the site forms a gap between Ducklington and Witney but he said: "I do not find this particularly significant due to the extensive development on the opposite side of the Witney Road."

He added that residents' had commented about sewage capacity in the area. "However, Thames Water commented at the application stage that they had no objection in terms of foul water capacity.

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"Comments are also made about health provision, however, the additional households would not be a significant increase in the population of the area.

"School capacity is also raised but the Section 106 agreement provides funding for expansion."

But he gave great weight to West Oxfordshire District Council's inability to demonstrate a five-year housing land supply.

Councils must show there is enough land dedicated within its local plan to cater for an adequate number of new homes over the next five years.

If an authority does not meet the target, developers benefit from greater scope to build on land that is not allocated for housing with less weight given to potential reasons for refusal.

The planning inspector concluded that "the housing land supply shortfall is substantial and the prospects for it improving are poor, even more so with the additional requirement from Oxford City".

Ducklington councillor Ben Woodruff said: “The village is devastated. It’s a huge loss of a village asset. I have lost count of the number of emails I’ve had.

"It's an ancient piece of moorland that 's used by dog walkers and the whole village and it leads to Witney Lake.

"It’s been made worse by the fact it was turned down at first and then granted at appeal.

"The flooding risk had been downgraded and the developers had carried out an archaeological survey which helped them a bit.

“One of the key arguments was that it was not in the Local Plan as a development site.

"Under normal circumstances it would not have been successful at appeal but because of the lack of a five-year land supply it succeeded.

“I feel sorry for the village. They’ve won on a technicality.”

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When the application was first made known a local action group was formed by residents and just under 1,200 people signed a petition.

There were some 330 written objections on the WODC planning portal.

Matt Barker, chair of Ducklington Parish Council, said residents were 'shocked'.

He said: "The Inspector was of the opinion that development on this ancient meadow would result in 'limited harm'. We do not agree with that analysis.

"The lack of objection from both Thames Water and the Environment Agency to the initial application was damaging to our cause.

"The lack of a five year housing land supply did not help our case, but it was not the only factor."

He said the downgrading of the flood zone from high risk to low risk in 2016, by the Environment Agency, had allowed the appeal to be successful but the Moors had been completely under water in 2007 and flooded again in 2021.

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He said: "It is soul destroying trying to fight these developers as they have both the means and huge financial backing to launch these attacks on our green spaces.

"Land owners are tempted by the large payouts from speculative developers, and invariably do not suffer the consequences of their actions, as they rarely live in the towns and villages that are being eroded.

"There is a great deal of talk about protecting the environment from the effects of climate change, but we appear to be going backwards and concreting over the green spaces and farmland that we should be using to help safeguard us, and future generations, from ever more severe weather events."

 

 

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This story was written by Miranda Norris, she joined the team in 2021 and covers news across Oxfordshire as well as news from Witney.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Miranda.Norris@newsquest.co.uk. Or find her on Twitter: @Mirandajnorris

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