Can you come to protest with us at The Great Hall for Tuesday for the summing up at the final day of the inquiry?
We have the placards so may as well use them!
Join us from 9.30 am . Then if you can come inside and fill the public seats to show again the strength of our objections to this speculative scheme.
AS LAST TIME PLEASE WALK AND KEEP ROADS CLEAR.
Today, the Inquiry is considering the impact of Leavesley’s proposal on our landscape. It is a round table discussion, much more informal and open than the dry, laborious cross-examinations of previous days. The entire day is devoted to landscape, so please attend at some time today if you possibly can. Early reports from our team at the Inquiry say that “the inspector is listening to the locals”, so it should be a much more upbeat day for us.
The Parish Council has an expert consultant, Daniel Leaver of Stephenson Halliday consultants, who will present evidence opposing the development. Duncan Reed, a local resident and active member of the campaign, has also done a great deal of research and will be presenting his findings.
Tuesday is the day that we get to ask Leavesley about their ridiculous position on access to secondary education. They suggest that the demand for school places generated by this development can be met by (a) removing all the out-of-catchment pupils from Wallingford School (where will they go? Is it even moral to disrupt their education?) and (b) sending children from Cholsey to Didcot – more road miles, more journey time, separation of siblings and cohorts. This is, frankly, indefensible. It amounts to cynical neglect of our children’s educational needs. No matter how Leavesley tries to dress this up, there is no way to mitigate the harm this development will do to pupils from our village. Put simply, the children of Cholsey will be better off without this development – and that should be reason enough to dismiss the appeal.
If you agree and can find the time, please come to the hearing on Tuesday afternoon and show the strength of our opposition. We expect that members of the public will get to ask questions at around 16:25 (4:25pm). Here is the updated timetable for Tuesday.
| 10:00 | Leavesley’s evidence on the planning aspects of their proposal (Steven Stoney), followed by cross-examination and questions from the public. Likely to last all morning. |
| 13:45 | Leavesley’s evidence on education (Ben Hunter) |
| 14:25 | Break |
| 14:40 | Cross-examination of Ben Hunter by SODC |
| 15:40 | Cross-examination by CPC |
| 16:20 | Inspector’s questions to Ben Hunter (if any) |
| 16:25 | Question from members of the public to Ben Hunter (if any) |
| 16:35 | Re-examination of Ben Hunter by Leavesley’s counsel |
| 16:45 | Adjourn |
Well done! to all our speakers. It was a long and gruelling day, and you played your parts brilliantly.
Leavesley gets to present their case, next. Let’s hope the Councils’ advocates can tear some chunks out of their evidence.
This is our day. This afternoon at the Inquiry, our people – Cholsey residents – have their chance to speak. It’s a big moment for our speakers and some of them will be well outside their comfort zone in addressing a formal inquiry. So, please, come to the Great Hall if you possibly can to give them moral support and to show we are all behind them.
Cholsey Parish Council will also present their case against the Appeal this afternoon and I’m sure that Beryl Guiver would be glad of your presence, too.
Here’s the running order for today. All timings are approximate, particularly later in the day, as some items may overrun.
| 09:30 | Tracy Smith evidence in chief (planning) Cross examination Inspector’s questions Re-examination |
| 12:25 | Lunch break |
| 13:35 | Case for cholsey Parish Council Beryl Guiver evidence in chief Cross examination Inspector’s questions Re-examination |
| 15:20 | Case for Members of the public supporting the council Our nominated speakers have their say. |
| Timing uncertain | Break |
| Timing uncertain | Case for the appellant Roland Bolton evidence in chief (Five-year housing land supply and older persons’ housing need) |
| Adjourn |
We really want you to be there with us at 9am this Wednesday (31st August) outside the Great Hall at Cholsey Meadows.
But please, leave your car behind if you possibly can because parking spaces are very restricted near the Great Hall. We don’t want to alienate the Inspector and his/her team by blocking the parking spaces before they arrive—we need to keep them open to our cause.
So come on foot (it’s greener)
Outline application for access for Mixed Use Development comprising, up to 350 C3 residential dwellings, C2 Care and Assisted Living, E(a) retail, E(g) employment space, F2 Community Building, E(e) Daycare Nursery, Open Space and Landscaping’
Land off Papist Way Cholsey OX10 9PA
Grid Reference 459470/186248
South Oxfordshire District Council refused planning permission for this development on 4th February 2022. JT Leavesley Ltd have filed an appeal against the refusal.
Full details of the planning application and of the appeal can be viewed here on the SODC planning portal.
Our group is independant of, but working alongside, Cholsey Parish Council to prevent this overdevelopment. Below, you can read our group’s objections and also a statement of the parish council’s position.
This speculative development is for 350+ houses, representing a 20-25% growth of the village
The parish council has supplied the following information for inclusion on this page:
The Parish Council recommended refusal of Leavesley outline planning application and SODC planning department agreed and refused the application in March 2022 on the basis of conflict with national policy the South Oxfordshire Local Plan and the Cholsey Neighbourhood Plan. The South Oxfordshire Local Plan makes excellent provision for further housing over the plan period with proposals for 30,056 new homes against a minimum requirement of 23,550 homes. There is no justification for departing from the plan policies. The proposal is contrary to Local Plan policies H1 and H4 as it does not meet any of the requirements of criteria 3 of this policy which provides for exceptions to the development plan allocations policies nor is it within one of the villages identified for further homes in policy H4 The Cholsey Neighbourhood Plan makes good provision for further housing to maintain the vitality of the village, which will be likely to grow by around 43% between 2011 and 2035. The plan includes provision for 690 new homes significantly in excess of the Local Plan 2035 minimum requirement of an additional 612 homes. The housing site at CHOL1 Completed (East End Farm and CHOL 7 currently under construction (Poppyfields)).