Oxford CC Planning Decision Will Devastate Important Wildlife Site

February 2008. BBOWT are appalled at a recent decision by Oxfordshire County Council to approve development proposals that will result in a devastating loss for local wildlife, especially as the decision goes against the recommendations of the authority’s own Officers.

Shipton-on-Cherwell quarry, a 63ha site with a wealth of important habitats and species, has been the subject of a planning application by Kilbride Properties Ltd. The company intend to develop this wildlife haven which is a designated County Wildlife Site, for car storage, depots and industrial units.

 

Important Bird Site
The old limestone quarry is one of the most important sites for birds in Oxfordshire, with over-wintering species such as green sandpiper, jack snipe, little grebe and pochard using the mosaic of wetland features within the designated wildlife site. Records of breeding birds include turtle dove, little ringed plover, Cetti’s warbler, and peregrine falcon. The site also has exceptional populations of slow worms, as well as other protected reptile species.

Shortly before the planning application was submitted to the County Council for consideration, work undertaken by Kilbride Properties Ltd resulted in the loss of some important habitat features found in the quarry basin. BBOWT were told by Kilbride that the work was carried out for health and safety reasons. However, despite having asked, we have not had any further explanation of why the work was necessary.

Local bird enthusiasts have been visiting the site for over three decades, recording birds to inform national wildfowl surveys. John Brucker, a local bird expert and Vice Chairman of the Oxford Ornithological Society, said: ‘I have been watching and recording birds at the quarry for nearly 20 years. But I have now been told that, in spite of the recent health and safety works that have taken place, I am no longer allowed to visit the site because it is considered too dangerous. I was extremely concerned to hear of the Council’s decision to approve this application, especially after the site has already suffered such significant damage.’

Decision Referred to Secretary of State
Now that the application has been approved, the County Council will have to refer it to Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. This is because the Committee decision is contrary to planning policy, at both the local and national level, so the Secretary of State will have to decide whether it should be ‘called-in’ for further scrutiny.

BBOWT, with the support of a number of other concerned organisations, have written to the Secretary of State to ask her to call-in the application so that the decision by the County Council can be looked at in more detail. We do not believe that the need for this development outweighs the significant value of this site for Oxfordshire’s wildlife.

This application has been approved at the same time that Kilbride Properties Ltd is promoting the quarry site for development as an ‘Eco-town’ to central Government, which would result in more than 5,000 new homes being built. Matt Jackson, Head of Policy, Planning and Wider Countryside for BBOWT said: ‘If allowed, this development at Shipton-on-Cherwell Quarry will result in the loss of one of the most important wildlife sites in the county. Recent work on site has already had a severe impact on habitats and species. To promote this site as an eco-town off the back of such destruction makes a mockery of the whole eco-town concept.’