Our work
Our objectives
Our objective is to protect, extend, grow and restore nature in our district. We are a part of nature and without it we cannot survive. We have been working on several high-level projects and have plans for the future.
Our 2024 strategy
Over this year, we will continue to engage with nature and climate groups across the county; we will comment on the emerging county and district plans in Oxfordshire; continue to lobby against too many market value houses being built in our countryside; and promote a new regional park for Oxfordshire. We will continue to challenge breaches in environmental law, be they over air pollution, sewage pollution of our rivers, development that threatens a safe and secure climate and environment; or threats to our heritage and the conservation status of our buildings and protected areas (such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and nature reserves).
Ongoing activities
Jon Floyd, Olly de Soissons and David Polgreen have been working on the proposal for a 100 sq mile Regional Nature Park in South
Oxfordshire, Cherwell and Buckinghamshire. They are in the process of setting up REBORN: Restoring Bernwood, Otmoor,
Ray to Nature as a new Community Action Group. More news to follow.
The report highlights the great reasons for the RNP, with new maps and photos to illustrate the benefits. It has fed into the Joint Local Plan(SODC, Vale) consultation and will be brought to the Oxfordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy consultation (Old Fire Station, Oxford 25th March).
We are working with BBOWT whose ‘Reconnecting Bernwood Otmoor and the Ray’ project overlaps with this.
We want “a place where we enable nature to thrive, enhancing people’s wellbeing, where a flourishing natural environment permeates the whole
area”.
The Report “Proposal for a Regional Nature Park for Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire (Strategic Green Infrastructure – V17- March 2024)” is available here in three parts because the full document is too big to be uploaded onto this site as a single entity. Click on each part in turn to download the whole report a low resolution: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
If higher resolutoin is needed for printing or zooming, pages at 300 dpi can be downloaded here. Pages 1 to 10, Pages 11 & 12, Page 13, Pages 14 to 21, Pages 22 to 28, Pages 29 to 40.
See also earlier reports on the proposed Regional Nature Park:
Summary of the Proposal sent to Councillors in 2021
The 2021 press release about new National Park to the north of Oxford
BIOABUNDANCE RESPONSES TO THE LEVELLING-UP AND REGENERATION BILL, REFORMS TO NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY, 2023
Click here to see the Bioabundance response to the Consultation on National Planning Policy submitted on 2nd March 2023
SOUTH OXFORDSHIRE’S LOCAL PLAN 2041 CONSULTATION, JUNE 2022
A Narrative Response was collated by Dr Sue Roberts from Focus Group Meetings and has been used as the basis of the four responses submitted to the Planning Team. Follow this link to see the full Narrative; Bioabundance Narrative Response to South Oxfordshire’s Local Plan 2041 Consultation, June 2022. Links to the four responses submitted follow this summary of the Narrative Response. Click here for the full response.
Bioabundance responses to the four sections of this consultation
Bioabundance response to Joint Local Plan issues-plan 2041 consultation June 2022,
Bioabundance comments on the settlements assessment methodology – June 2022 consultation,
Bioabundance comments on Sustainability Assessment (SA) Scoping Consultation Response – June 2022
Bioabundance comments on the Duty to Cooperate – June 2022 consultation
Bioabundance Comments on the Consultation on the SODC and Vale Draft Joint Design Guide.
It is imperative that climate change is addressed throughout the guide. South and Vale are signed up to the carbon reduction target of the Oxfordshire Energy Strategy and are committed to a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. New designs must keep within these limits. To achieve this, it is essential that the construction of domestic buildings be included in a standards and certification scheme. Choosing the right set of standards must be a high priority for the design guide team. The BREAM code for sustainable homes is an option. Passivhaus could be used but is not always viable. The development of smaller affordable homes with a smaller carbon footprint is encouraged. New developments should respect Community Lead Plans. The guide should include encouraging the reduction of carbon footprint in existing dwellings.
A high quality development should be fit for purpose; minimize carbon footprint; and encourage biodiversity. Technical studies of new developments should include surveys on watercourses, trees, habitats, species, production of food, preservation of existing farmland, natural carbon sequestering, flood risk mitigation and drainage. We recommend that living walls are encouraged to absorb CO2.
The National planning framework is still focused on GDP driven growth rather than the preservation of our natural and social capital. We ask for a change mechanism to be built into this guide so that it can quickly reflect any changes in Government policy in this area.
Consultation on the Local Transportation and Connectivity Plan
The key point in our submission to LCTP5 is that the plan must prioritise the 2050 deadline for net-zero carbon in transport in order to tackle the climate change emergency. This means building a sustainable transport network that integrates local e-bus, cycle and walking routes with the strategic rail and bus services for longer journeys. This is the only way to reduce car dependency, especially in rural areas and allow nature to recover after decades of destruction from increasing traffic and carbon emissions on our roads.
To protect nature, the Environment Bill sets out principles of Integration, Prevention, Rectification, Polluter Pays and Precaution. We have responded to the Government’s consultation on the application of these principles here. In brief, the statement is supposed to be a blueprint to show how to apply these principles but it does nothing of the sort. Instead, the original meaning of these words is greatly watered down. The principles are hedged about with concepts of ‘proportionality’ and the aim of the paper is to promote economic development whilst trying to do less harm to nature. An already weak bill that should be replaced by the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill is becoming increasingly toothless
Bioabundance supports the Climate and Ecology Emergency Bill Alliance and is actively working with it. Lead: Sally Mears
Bioabundance is taking every opportunnity to influence the South Oxfordshire District Plan 2041 to conserve biodiversity, to reduce pollution and to mitigate climate change.
Click here to see the Bioabundance response of March 2024
Lead: Sue Roberts
Bioabundance supports the initiative of Cholsey PC to appoint a paid post of Environmental Officer which has resulted in a parish wide survey to mobilise those taking part to support the conservation of our environment.
Lead: Ginnie Herbert
Sharing Knowledge
Concrete or Critters? How Unneeded New Housing is Stealing our Future
This Bioabundance webinar (2nd June 2021) features two talks of 20 minutes each, and a Q&A session
- Dr. Sue Roberts of Bioabundance and a South Oxford District Councillor. Timestamped at 01:04
- Professor David Rogers of the No Expressway Group (NEG)(https://www.noexpressway.org/). Timestamped at 21:36.
Tedx Housing Crisis in a Climate Crisis
Dr Sue Roberts gave a talk (9 min) at the Wallingford Tedx Day on Climate Change. Christiana Figueres (leader of the successful 2015 Paris accord talks on Climate Change) provided a talk on Stubborn Optimism. Both are here: http://www.tedxwallingford.co.uk/