CALLING ALL LOCAL RESIDENTS!

This application to extract 1.55 million tonnes of sand and gravel from the Stonehenge Farm site over 8 years was deferred to the OCC Planning Committee meeting at County Hall on 21^st July to allow time for the Committee to study the Environment Agency’s response to WODC’s Final Report on the July 2007 flooding in this area.

The WODC report on Northmoor Parish was published on 4^th June. It included a requirement for the EA to undertake a full flood zone modelling study and also Hanson and the EA to prepare a satisfactory flood defence solution.

We have learned that the WODC final report is now not due until September. It appears that the EA has closed its consultation. Despite this, Stonehenge Farm will still be on the agenda for the OCC meeting on 21^st July.

Please come to County Hall at 2pm on the 21st July to witness the proceedings.

If you have strong views on this application, NOW is the time to write to:

* Our local papers - Oxford Times, Oxford Mail & Witney Gazette

* Our local MP, Rt Hon David Cameron (camerond@parliament.uk)

* Our local Councillors on the Planning and Regulation Committee (see below).

NB. When writing to the Councillors, please ask them to forward your letter to their nominated substitute in the event that they are unable to attend the meeting on the 21st July.

Councillor Steve Hayward <steve.hayward@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Chairman) (Witney West)

Councillor Mrs Catherine Fulljames <catherine.fulljames@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Deputy Chairman) (Ploughley)

Councillor David Turner <david.turner@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Chalgrove)

Councillor Don Seale <don.seale@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Bampton)

Councillor Timothy Hallchurch MBE <timothy.hallchurch@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Otmoor & Kirtlington)

Councillor G A Reynolds, Grange Farm, Malthouse Lane, Shutford,
Banbury, Oxon OX15 6PB <george.reynolds@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Wroxton)

Councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles <hilary.biles@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Chipping Norton)

Councillor David Nimmo-Smith <david.nimmo-smith@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Henley North & Chilterns)

Councillor Ray Jelf <ray.jelf@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Deddington)

Councillor Chip Sherwood <chip.sherwood@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Isis)

Councillor Terry Joslin <terry.joslin@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Didcot South)

Councillor Barbara Gatehouse <barbara.gatehouse@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Leys & Lye)

Councillor Alan Armitage <alan.armitage@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(West Central Oxford)

Councillor Jenny Hannaby <jenny.hannaby@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Grove & Wantage)

Councillor Michael Gibbard <michael.gibbard@oxfordshire.gov.uk>
(Kidlington & Yarnton)

EA Flood Watch

Current Flooding Situation

The River Windrush Catchment

Page last updated: 07:04 on 09-Jul-2008
Flood status checked every 15 minutes.

Current status:	Flood Watch
Status last changed at:	07:04 on 09-Jul-2008
Location:	The River Windrush from Bourton-on-the-Water to Newbridge and its tributaries

For more information, follow the link:
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/flood/floodwarning/061WAFW04?time=1215583440

Message from Outrage

OCC Planning Committee meeting at County Hall, Westgate, Oxford, on July 21st at 2pm.

The Stonehenge Farm application will be on the Agenda of the OCC Planning Committee meeting on July 21st, and the County Council intends to reach a decision at that meeting.

PLEASE COME TO THIS MEETING IF YOU POSSIBLY CAN, EVEN IF YOU CAN'T STAY TO THE END. As soon as the agenda is published, we can get a better idea of when the item will come up, and people can plan their afternoon accordingly.

We made a big impact last time, and WE MUST DO IT AGAIN ON A LARGER SCALE. It will be our last chance. The councillors need to be made aware of how strongly we feel. The floodrisk, the noise and dust, the conveyor crossing, the heavy traffic, the destruction of the countryside - we have seen it all up and down the Windrush Valley for years. This is where it must stop.

SAY NO TO GRAVEL EXTRACTION AT STONEHENGE FARM.

It would be great if you could confirm you are planning to come along to the meeting on July 21st (outrage@thegreen.co.uk) (or not) to help us gauge our numbers, support etc. We hope as many residents as possible do come along, please don’t leave it to your neighbour, come along yourself. Thank you for your support.

Outrage T Shirt Campaign

Dear All

We plan to run a T Shirt campaign, to reinforce our objection to the proposed gravel extraction at Stonehenge Farm, and Maureen Sears has very kindly agreed to co-ordinate it for us.

We hope to place an order for 100 Black T shirts with white print, saying:

WE SAY NO

TO

GRAVEL EXTRACTION

AT

STONEHENGE FARM

The cost of the T shirts will be £ 3.75 each (this includes a donation to Outrage of 50p / t shirt) but we need at least 75 orders before we can go ahead and get the t shirts printed.

If you would like to order one of these T shirts (available in Large & Ex Large) to show your support for Outrage, please could you contact:

Maureen Sears searsmaureen@yahoo.co.uk

"Common Sense" is added to the debate ...

I was present at the planning meeting on 19^th May 2008 and it is important to remember, with regard to this application, that it is planning law which will determine it. Sometimes planning law can be as clear as the mud the developers seek to remove here; however, the submissions by Col Terry Kirkpatrick (representing Moreton), Robert Florey (Chairman of Northmoor Parish Council) and Julie Hankey (Chair, OUTRAGE) shed commendably clear light on the planning issues that matter and should be read carefully.

But the voice of common sense sounds loudly here too. Above all else, in an age where many a headline trumpets the perils of flood risk where recent evidence let alone future predictions are so compellingly and chillingly clear, why consciously add to those risks?

This application does just that. It fails the common sense tests first and foremost. It should not be permitted and I add my name and all my energies to seeing that it does not.

J Spring
RESIDENT OF NORTHMOOR

Minerals Quarrying & Recycling Magazine (MQR)

The OCC Planning Committee meeting took place on 19th May. This article, published by the MQR magazine two days later, clearly reflects the view that the decision has already been made.

What happened to the resolution at the meeting "to defer the application to the July meeting in order to consider the application in conjunction with West Oxfordshire District Council's final report on the 2007 summer floods?"

EA gives green light to Hanson Northmoor

Issue date: May 21st, 2008

The Environment Agency (EA) has backed Hanson Aggregates’ proposals to extract 1.55million tonnes of sand and gravel from Stonehenge Farm in the Northmoor area of Oxford.

Development of the site has been objected to by West Oxfordshire District Council and pressure groups on the grounds that it would pose a flood risk to the area.

However, the EA feels that the work carried out by Hanson to address the environment body’s initial concerns over flood risks and hydrology has been sufficient to allow it to give the project the green light.

The site is in the Windrush area which is rich in sharp sand and gravel deposits, material Oxfordshire’s Minerals and Waste Development Framework says is greatly needed in the area.

It predicts between 13.7million tonnes of sharp sand and gravel will be needed to 2019 with 24.3million tonnes being needed to meet demand through to 2026. Permitted reserves at the end of 2005 numbered 6.07million tonnes.

To see the magazine, you can follow the link below:

http://www.mqr.info/showarticle.php?db_id=197&

Wildlife Trust

Flooding - Government needs to show strong leadership

Can nautral areas help protect your home from flooding?

25th June, 2008

As the Pitt Review report into last summer’s devastating floods is launched today, The Wildlife Trusts urge the government to put nature at the heart of dealing with the future risk of flooding.

The Wildlife Trusts welcome the recommendations in Sir Michael Pitt’s report, particularly to work with natural processes through land management and land-use planning to reduce flood risk. The Wildlife Trusts believe that working with nature, such as creating wetlands to slow down and store flood water, alongside targeted hard defences is the best solution for many areas at risk of flooding.

Intensive agriculture, including overgrazing and over-abstraction of water; failure to address surface water drainage in towns and cities and inappropriate development on floodplains, coupled with the destruction of many wetland sites means that many of the natural spaces for water in our landscape have been lost. We have created an impermeable landscape and lost the sponge-like qualities of natural areas to soak up heavy rainfall.

Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, said: “The flooding in summer 2007 must be a wake-up call to end all wake-up calls. The Government now needs to show strong leadership by adopting Sir Michael Pitt’s recommendations to seriously tackle the increased risk of flooding that we now face as a result of unavoidable climate change.

“Natural solutions can make a valuable contribution not only to flood risk, but also in delivering education, recreation, economic and wildlife benefits. The Government should develop flagship projects to increase our understanding of these approaches and demonstrate the wider contribution they can make to society. The Government should also invest in a new land use funding scheme to deliver more natural solutions to flooding, including wildlife habitat restoration and re-creation.”

‘Nature’s place for water’, The Wildlife Trusts’ report on flooding demonstrates the landscape-scale approach needed by illustrating the work of Sheffield and Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts which contributes to reducing flood risk in the River Don catchment. Projects include restoring upland habitat to hold water upstream, using Sustainable Urban Drainage Schemes (SUDS), such as ponds and reedbeds to store and clean surface water and managing wetland nature reserves for flood storage in rural and urban areas.

Potteric Carr, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s flagship nature reserve, is one such flood storage area and saved hundreds of homes from flooding last summer by storing 200,000 cubic metres of water on the site. It is also home to hundreds of species, including the rare avocet, golden plover and swarms of black-darter dragonflies. The special design of the reserve meant that during the flooding of 2007, wildlife was able to take refuge from the floodwaters. The reedbeds also act as a water filter, improving the quality of the water before it leaves the site. Just two miles from the centre of Doncaster, the reserve attracts thousands of visitors each year.

The key now is to implement these schemes on a much wider scale than ever before. Rob Stoneman, chief executive of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said: “Taking a catchment approach to flood management as we are doing in the Don Valley is the only realistic long-term option. If we are to make this approach work, we have to include natural solutions alongside targeted hard defences.”

• ‘Nature’s place for water’ will be available in July on the website www.wildlifetrusts.org

For link to website, see: http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/index.php?section=news&id=2433