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The Mullin Proposal at Enstone/Great Tew

14th February 2018

The statement below will be presented at the next Council meeting, due to be held on Monday, 19th February 2018. 

 

The Parish council had to decide its response to a planning application on what it considers is best for the village overall. WODC have not officially asked us our opinion as it is outside our parish, and they were not expecting a response from us. 

 

The planning decision will be taken by West Oxfordshire District Council not the Parish council.

 

The Parish council had to take into consideration the views of all residents even those that do not attend the parish council or a public meeting.

 

Our recent public meeting included a large number of people from outside of our parish; the Parish Council can only represent parishioners in our village.

 

Clearly, parishioners in other parishes have had the opportunity to raise any objections to their respective councils or directly to WODC planning.

 

We have canvassed around 50 parishioners who have clearly stated that they have no objections to the proposal subject to proper traffic calming measures being introduced, and this information, together with any comments sent to the clerk have been sent to WODC planning.  It’s is worth mentioning that WODC will take into account one objection per person, therefore if any objections have been sent via different parishes or independently, it will only be counted once.

 

The site has been subject to many speculative proposals over the years including housing development of up to 300 units along with other business developments that would have an impact on the village.

 

Traffic

 

One of the major concerns for residents is the level of traffic through the village - not just HGVs but all vehicles, and the speed of the vehicles is a matter that is regularly discussed at Parish council meetings. Over the years the PC has tried to address the matter of traffic with meetings at the airfield and continually prompting the police for better enforcement.

 

Whilst the PC recognises that the Mullins development will increase traffic through the village, it does give the PC the opportunity to get traffic calming that will impact on existing traffic as well as the traffic generated by the development.

 

Retrospective planning permission cannot be placed on existing developments. The only way to achieve traffic calming through the village is with a new application when conditions and S106 can be linked to an application.

 

Jobs

 

The development will also create jobs some of which will be taken by local residents bringing money into the local economy, as the development matures then workers may decide to move into the village, this would mean fewer journeys from outside the village.

 

Conclusion

 

Taking into consideration all factors the Parish council supports the proposal subject to traffic calming measures are provided for the village such as entrance Gateways, Vehicle Activated Signs and road cushions.

 

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