1 Beckley and Stowood Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Chairman Cllr Ginette Camps-Walsh Secretary and Hon. Treasurer Sian Jeffrey Design Nick Crowley History Caroline Gordon-Duff History and Leisure Ann Henman Landscape and Farming Geoff Henman The Abingdon Arms Mike Hobbs Acknowledgments We wish to thank all the Beckley and Stowood residents, businesses and local organisations who took part in our consultations and public meetings. We would like to thank SODC’s (South Oxfordshire District Council) Neighbourhood Planning Officers for their help and guidance - • Rachael Riach • Ricardo Rios • Simon Rowberry • Charlotte Colver • Luke Brown Quotations from external documents are in italics in blue The photograph of Abingdon Arms is used with kind permission of Beckley Area Community Benefit Society ©2017 2 CONTENTS PAGE SECTION 1. INTRODUCTION – THE PARISH OF BECKLEY AND STOWOOD 5 1.1. How the Neighbourhood Plan fits into the Planning System 5 1.2. What is a Neighbourhood Plan? 6 1.3. How this Plan is organised? 7 2. BECKLEY AND STOWOOD PARISH 8 2.1. About Beckley and Stowood 9 2.2 Landscape and Geography 10 2.2.1. Landscape Assessment for Beckley and Stowood 10 2.2.2. Water Courses and Flooding 12 2.3. Beckley and Stowood History 15 2.4. Population and Housing 26 2.5. Beckley Today 27 2.5.1 Housing 27 2.5.2. Initial Neighbourhood Plan Survey Results 28 2.6. Businesses and Local Organisations 29 2.6.1. Survey Results from Local Businesses and Organisations – Employers 29 2.6.2. Farming 30 2.6.3 The Abingdon Arms 32 2.7. Leisure and Wellbeing 34 2.7.1. The Village Hall 34 2.7.2. Footpaths and Bridleways 37 2.8. Getting Around – Transport 39 2.8.1 Roads 39 2.8.2. Buses 40 2.8.3. Wick Farm 40 2.8.4. Traffic across the Parish 40 2.8.5. Traffic in Beckley Village 41 2.8.6 Car Parking 41 2.8.7. Pedestrian Safety 42 2.8.8. Cyclist Safety 42 2.8.9. Equestrian Safety 43 2.9. Environment and Biodiversity 43 2.9.1. Open Spaces 43 2.9.2 Otmoor 43 2.9.3. Sydlings and Wick Copses 43 2.10. Character and Heritage 46 2.10.1. The Beckley Conservation Area – Character Assessment 49 2.10.2 Woodperry Road and New Road Area – Character Assessment 54 2.10.3. Wick Farm and Lower Farm – Character Assessment 57 2.10.4. Outer Areas – Character Assessment 62 3. CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES 66 3.1. Constraints 66 3.1.1. The Oxford Green Belt 68 3.1.2. Beckley Conservation Area 69 3 3.1.3. The Main Settlement Boundary of Beckley 69 3.1.4. Views and Vistas 69 3.1.5. Flooding 69 3.1.6. Roads – Major and Minor 70 3.2. Opportunities 70 3.3. Threats 71 3.3.1. The Oxford Green Belt 71 3.3.2. Oxford City Council Expansion Plans 72 3.3.3. SODC’s Green Belt Review 78 3.3.4. SODC’s Former Local Plan 2031 79 3.3.5. SODC’s Emerging Local Plan 2033 Second Preferred Options 79 3.3.6. Oxford to Cambridge Expressway 81 SECTION 2: A VISION FOR BECKLEY AND STOWOOD 4. VISION STATEMENT AND CORE OBJECTIVES 82 4.1. Vision for Beckley and Stowood – initial survey results 82 4.2. Site Criteria Results 84 4.3. Design Criteria Results 85 4.4. Countryside and Environment Policies 88 4.4.1 Rural Look and Feel 88 SECTION 3. NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN POLICIES 5. NEIGHBOURHOOD DEVELOPMENT PLAN POLICIES 89 5.1. Introduction 89 5.1.1. Development Site Criteria 89 5.1.2. Beckley and Stowood Design Guide 91 5.1.3. Definition of the ‘Main Settlement Boundary’ – Village Envelope 94 5.1.4. Protection of the Peaceful Environment 96 5.2. Housing Development Designation 96 5.2.1. Brown Field Sites 97 5.2.2. Infilling Within the ‘Defined Village 97 5.3. Actions for The Parish Council to Review 97 APPENDICES - EVIDENCE BASE SUMMARY- SEPARATE DOCUMENT APPENDIX 1 SOUTH OXFORDSHIRE LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT – OXFORD HEIGHTS APPENDIX 2 LIST OF LOCAL ORGANISATIONS APPENDIX 3 LOCAL BUSINESS AND ORGANISATIONS SURVEY APPENDIX 4 BUSINESS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX 5 LIST OF LOCAL GROUPS APPENDIX 6 CONSERVATION AREA APPRAISAL SODC APPENDIX 7 CHARACTER ASSESSMENT WOODPERRY ROAD AREA APPENDIX 8 CHARACTER ASSESSMENT WICK FARM APPENDIX 9 CHARACTER ASSESSMENT – OUTER AREA APPENDIX 10 SUSTAINABILITY APPRAISAL MATRICES ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIC ALLOCATIONS FROM SODC’S LOCAL EMERGING PLAN – WICK FARM AND LOWER ELSFIELD APPENDIX 11 NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN - INITIAL PARISH SURVEY APPENDIX 12 CRITERIA FOR DEVELOPMENT SITES APPENDIX 13 DESIGN CRITERIA SURVEY 4 1. INTRODUCTION – THE PARISH OF BECKLEY AND STOWOOD Beckley and Stowood is a rural parish situated to the north east of Oxford, spreading from the outskirts of Oxford City at Barton into the countryside. The whole parish is in the Green Belt. The main village is Beckley, which is a very attractive village the centre of which is a conservation area, with more recent surrounding areas of housing. Outside this there are a few farms, some houses and farm land with Wick Farm nearer Oxford. Wick Farm has a mobile home park and old farm buildings, some housing and small businesses. The Beckley and Stowood Neighbourhood Plan, being led by the Steering Group, and backed by the Parish Council started back in January 2016. The Parish Council wanted the people of Beckley and Stowood to have a say in all aspects of the future of the parish, but most importantly it wanted local people to decide how the parish would develop, rather than leaving this decision to South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC). Local residents have been very concerned about a number of proposals to build a very large number of houses. 5,000 have been proposed, in the Green Belt at Wick Farm and further proposals to build along the Oxford ring road in neighbouring parishes connecting this rural parish to Oxford City and threatening the homes of the residents at Wick Farm. Beckley and Stowood’s Neighbourhood Plan sets out a vision for the area that reflects the thoughts and feelings of local people with a real interest in their community. The Plan is relatively simple compared with others for larger towns as it is all ‘washed over’ by [within] the Green Belt, so there is no development target for new homes. The Parish Council is committed to developing and strengthening the contacts and groups that have evolved as a result of the Neighbourhood Planning process. It believes that by working together to implement the Plan it will make Beckley and Stowood Parish an even better place to live, work and enjoy. 1.1 HOW THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN FITS INTO THE PLANNING SYSTEM The Neighbourhood Plan must – • Comply with national policy and guidance (NPPF/NPPG National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Practice Guidance) • Help achieve sustainable development • Comply with local strategic policy -SODC Core Strategy and Emerging Local Plan, VWHDC List of strategic policies • Be compatible with EU legislation (HRA Habitat Regulations Assessment, ECHR European Convention on Human Rights) • Comply with the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Schedule 4B Paragraph 8 (Localism Act 2011 Schedule 10) 5 • Comply with Green Belt legislation 1.2. WHAT IS A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN? The official Government definition – Neighbourhood planning is a new way for communities to decide the future of the places where they live and work. They will be able to: • choose where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built • have their say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided • grant planning permission for the new buildings they want to see go ahead The government has introduced the community right to do neighbourhood planning through the [2011] Localism Act. Why does neighbourhood planning matter? The planning system helps decide what gets built, where and when. It is essential for supporting economic growth, improving people’s quality of life, and protecting the natural environment. In theory, planning was always supposed to give local communities a say in decisions that affect them. But in practice, communities have often found it hard to have a meaningful say. The government wants to put power back in the hands of local residents, employees and business, councils and civic leaders - those who know best the needs of their local areas. Neighbourhood planning is optional, not compulsory. No one has to do it, if they don’t want to. But we think that lots of people will want to take the opportunity, to influence the future of the place where they live or work. Neighbourhood planning is part of a new approach to planning introduced by the Localism Act 2011. The new system is designed to be more collaborative and gives communities more powers to shape the future of the places where they live and work. Neighbourhood Planning is the government's initiative of trying to empower local communities to help make and take forward planning proposals at a local level. The idea being that local people will drive, and then help to shape, how their local communities grow and develop over the next coming years. Neighbourhood Plans can only be made by one of two groups, towns/parishes or neighbourhood fora. As our area has parishes, town and parishes will take the lead in pushing them forward. 6 Neighbourhood Development Plans set out a vision, aims, policies and proposals for the future development of a neighbourhood. If adopted, the Neighbourhood Plan will be part of the statutory development plan for the area in question.