A year ago, in June 2008, BBOWT launched a campaign to protect Woodsides Meadow Nature Reserve and adjacent wildflower meadows, threatened by the proposal for the Weston-Otmoor ‘eco-town’. We’re pleased to report that, following the huge success of this campaign involving over 4000 BBOWT members, Weston Otmoor has been taken off the shortlist of sites for eco-town development.
The proposed development would have involved building up to 15,000 homes, 10 schools, plus shops, businesses, a station, road networks and a bridge. This would have brought people, traffic and pollution to a unique area where BBOWT has been protecting and nurturing fragile wildlife for over 20 years.
On 15th July government published a national Planning Policy Statement on eco-towns, which lists four sites for eco-town development. These are Whitehill-Bordon (Hampshire), Rackheath (Norfolk), St Austell (Cornwall) and North West Bicester (Oxfordshire).
In a letter to Cherwell District Council this May, Henry Cleary, deputy director for housing and growth at CLG, clearly stated: “I can also confirm that in the case of Cherwell, it is clear that the Weston Otmoor and North-West Bicester locations are alternatives – if one was selected the other would not.” BBOWT is therefore reassured that Woodsides Meadow Nature Reserve and the surrounding hay meadows are safe from the threat of an inappropriate ‘eco-town’ development.
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