Retirement Village planning inquiry - update 12/11/22

The planning inquiry into West Oxfordshire District Council's refusal of a proposal to build 160 retirement homes on land in the grounds of Freeland House has been running throughout this week.

Although it was meant to conclude on Friday 11 November, an extra two days have been scheduled as proceedings are taking longer than intended. Part of the reason for this is the amount of evidence being presented by both appellant (Inspired Villages) and Council.

Freeland Parish Council and Freeland Friends have joined the process as what is known as a Rule 6 party, which means we are also giving evidence against the proposal and supporting the refusal, although our participation is far more limited in scope than either of the main parties. Nonetheless, it has been made clear that local views are important, hence - given the strength of feeling within the village against this development - we are presenting our case on grounds of Landscape, Design, Heritage, Need, Viability and Planning considerations.

This week's proceedings have been in person in the Council offices at Woodgreen in Witney, although there was a site visit on Friday morning, where the proposed location for the development was toured by the inspector and representatives from each party. The inspector also visited the site on her own earlier in the week, and walked through the permissive access routes and around the village so she could get an idea of the context of the setting and the village.

The two extra days that have been scheduled will be virtual (online), and are on Friday 18 November and Monday 28 November. It is unknown when the inspector will rule, but as she originally planned to release her decision in the second week of December, we hope there may be a decision before the end of the year.

The efforts of Freeland to fight what almost all villagers seem to view as a wholly inappropriate proposal, and have the appeal dismissed, are being managed by planning consultant Mike Gilbert, who lives in the village and is co-ordinating our efforts as well as giving most of the evidence. Amy Jackson is also giving evidence, and Roger Faulkner is delivering the opening and closing statements. A number of different people have been of enormous help in the village, whether carrying out research, inputting ideas, turning up to the first day of the inquiry, or just being generally encouraging and supportive!

We will keep you posted on progress. Whatever the eventual outcome of this appeal, it’s important we feel we’ve done what we can to fight it.