Last spring Transport Action Network (TAN) started legal proceedings against the government on the grounds that it should have properly assessed environmental impacts before launching the £27 billion Road Investment Strategy (RIS2) in March 2020. The Court agreed to hear the TAN claim last July. According to the Guardian, those grounds have been amended with […]
Calls to rethink housebuilding in the countryside
Sir Roger Gale Conservative MP for Thanet is calling on the Prime Minister to to stop ‘plans to smother acres of prime agricultural land in housing that is not needed for local people.’ Watch the full exchange with Boris Johnson at PMQ 10 February On the other side of the political spectrum, Ros Coward in […]
Oxford Mail: is SODC’s local plan good or bad for Wallingford?
On 10 February, The ex-Mayor of Wallingford Lee Upcraft took Sue Roberts to task for challenging the local plan. He makes the point that if the local plan were overturned, the neighbour plan for Wallingford would also be ‘scrapped’ and leave Wallingford vulnerable to speculative development. On 11 February, Sue responded that ‘Wallingford’s plan will […]
Oxford Mail on our National Park proposal
Oliver de Soissons explains how to join up high quality countryside and wildlife reserves such as the RSPB site at Otmoor to create a new national park to the north east of the Oxford Ring Road, between the A40 to the south, the A34 to the west, and the M40 to the north and east. […]
Press release: Bioabundance calls for new National Park north of Oxford
Bioabundance has put together a plan for a 36 sq mile National Park to the northeast of Oxford. It would create economic, social, mental, and physical benefits for residents, close to where they live. The Government has called for new National Parks, in its Environment Bill and in its 10-point plan: the Green Industrial Revolution. […]
POETS highlight Bioabundance case in critique of Oxfordshire’s Democratic Deficit
The planning and environmental group, POETS is raising serious concerns about the erosion of local democracy in Oxfordshire where central government and bodies that are remote, unelected and unaccountable to local people are taking control of the planning process. The critique cites the legal challenge of Bioabundance against SODC. In DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT 2021 Who decides Oxfordshire’s […]
Sue Roberts Interviewed about flooding
Land earmarked for thousands of new homes in south Oxfordshire remains waterlogged, with more flood warnings in place across the county. The proposal to build up to 3,000 homes near Grenoble Road was approved in December after years of debate. However, flooding at the weekend has led to concerns over whether the site is suitable. […]
Guardian interview with Sue Roberts
“UK plan to build 24,000 homes faces legal challenge” “Robert Jenrick accused of ‘massive intervention’ on scheme incompatible with commitment to climate crisis Campaigners are challenging the Oxfordshire plan on the grounds that Jenrick’s intervention was inappropriate and that the proposed number of houses breaches the government’s legally binding commitment to hit net zero by […]
BBC South Today: Bioabundance legal action
Bioabundance is taking action against South Oxfordshire District Council because central government put pressure on councillors to adopt a controversial local plan for 13,500 new homes that doesn’t do enough to tackle climate change. Sue Roberts comments, that a local plan can only reduce climate change by reducing the amount of greenhouse gase in the […]
Bioabundance files with High Court Re: Local Plan 2035
On Thursday 21st of January 2021, Bioabundance issued a legal claim against South Oxfordshire District Council, concerning the decision by the Council to go ahead with the Local Plan 2035. Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) was named as an interested party. We hope for the plan […]