Village anger at eco-town plan

7:09pm Thursday 21st February 2008

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Fears are mounting that a quiet Oxfordshire village could be over-run if a 15,000 home "eco town" is approved by the Government.

Householders in Weston-on-the-Green have rallied to form a pressure group - set up by the father of tennis ace Tim Henman.

Tony Henman, who has lived in Weston-on-the-Green for 40 years, formed the group Weston Front to fight plans for the proposed new settlement, dubbed Weston Otmoor.

The development, by Parkridge Holdings, would take up 600 acres of farmland between Weston-on-the Green and the busy A34/M40 junction.

The settlement could be served by a new rail link, which would allow residents to travel to Oxford, Milton Keynes and London without relying on cars. The settlement would also have a tram service.

Almost half the village's 400 residents have attended two public meetings, to find out more details of the scheme which could see a town bigger than nearby Bicester built on farmland beside the A34.

Mr Henman said: "The proposed settlement now extends much further to the east of the A34. We are talking about 550 to 600 acres, but no one is quite sure.

"The public meetings attracted record numbers, with half the adults in the village there. We still do not know what we are up against. We are keeping our powder dry."

And Norman Machin, 64, of Northampton Road, said there was a lot of resentment to the plans.

He said: "There would be a major problem for infrastructure. Roads in the area are gridlocked at the moment anyway and Bicester is already struggling with an increased pressure on its services. It would dramatically change the village and its environment beyond recognition."

Two schemes to build eco towns near Kidlington and Weston-on-the-Green have been submitted to the Government.

And the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has warned it is "likely" one of the Oxfordshire schemes would be on the shortlist of 18 preferred bids.

A spokesman for Parkridge Holdings said: "The Government is likely to announce a shortlist of potential schemes in March. If Weston Otmoor is one of these shortlisted schemes, Parkridge will work with the local community and its representatives to develop proposals which are sympathetic to the local environment and to the needs of the existing community."

Cherwell District Council has expressed concern about the Weston-on-the-Green scheme - and the other eco-town proposal to build 5,000 homes at Shipton Quarry, a former cement works between Woodstock and Bicester.

A statement from the council said: "The two candidate locations offer some advantages, such as the reuse of previously developed land and the potential to improve public transport. But there are significant disadvantages, including adverse effects upon the Green Belt, effects upon rural roads, the impact on nature conservation sites, the loss of agricultural land and the impact on the regeneration of existing towns."