Oxfordshire County Council is refusing to do any more work on 'fairytale' proposals for an eco-town at Weston Otmoor until developers cough up more than £100,000 for work done so far that they originally promised to pay for.
According to Oxfordshire Council, Parkridge had promised that they would pay for detailed work that has had to take place on the transport implications of plans to build 15,000 homes near Weston-on-the-Green.
However, they now appear to have gone back on that promise, meaning money that could have been spent on projects to improve roads and public transport in the county could be lost.
Leader of the Council, Councillor Keith Mitchell, said: "These developers have been shifting the goalposts on an almost weekly basis. As one set of pie-in-the-sky fairytale plans is shown to be a superficial sham, another appears - and proves to be equally appalling.
"Whenever large or small housing schemes are proposed, it is our job as Oxfordshire's transport authority to manage impacts so that the best interests of the county are protected. That includes things such as public transport needs, and the effect on the current road network including the A34, M40 and smaller roads.
"The developers said at the outset that they would pay for the huge amount of work undertaken on their behalf to analyse the details of this proposal to build a brand new town. Having made that promise, we were stunned to hear that they have gone back on it. The bill currently stands at more than £100,000.
"Parkridge seems to have more newly updated sets of plans to throw around than most people have hot dinners. Their chaotic approach creates spiralling work and costs in terms of time as well as money for ourselves and Cherwell District Council. Nobody in Oxfordshire asked for this proposal. It has been imposed and is now threatening to take huge chunks out of the local public purse. It is perverse and wrong."
He continued: "We need to be quite clear that Oxfordshire County Council is not against job creation, as the developers have tried to intimate. However, we want to see properly planned and realistic job creation. We are actively supporting major new economic development at Bicester, which could bring huge benefits to people there. 'Wotmoor', as Private Eye has dubbed it, threatens that."
(CD/JM)
Time and date
CONSTRUCTION DIRECTORY
Latest Construction News
29/11/2024
Helmsley Group secured planning permission for the final part of its Coney Street Riverside masterplan which will bring much needed residential space to the city and realise a 50-year ambition to reconnect York to its riverfront. With work expected to start in the summer of 2025, this approval ...
29/11/2024
Network Space Developments (NSD) has received planning approval from Manchester City Council for a major redevelopment project at its Welcomb Street site in Openshaw, Manchester. The four-acre site, acquired by NSD in 2022, will be transformed into an extension of the adjacent City Works Business ...
29/11/2024
Work has commenced on a new lighting scheme designed to create brighter streets in Digbeth, close to HS2's Birmingham Curzon Street station. The Birmingham City Council project – funded in part through a £210,140 investment from HS2's Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF) – will see the ...
29/11/2024
Building work has commenced on 14 new modern one-bedroom apartments at Ludwick Green in Welwyn Garden City. The apartments are being developed as part of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council's (WHBC) Affordable Housing Programme, and its commitment to building new social and affordable homes. Ludwick ...
29/11/2024
River Capital has invested £500,000 in Liverpool-based M&E engineering consultancy, Steven A Hunt & Associates Ltd. The funding was structured to facilitate a management buyout (MBO) by the senior management team of Neil Baines, Anne King, Dave Kelly and Dominic Sibbring from founder Steven Hunt, ...
29/11/2024
Henley Restoration and Remedials has been chosen to carry out extensive external and structural repairs on the Grade II-listed Phoenix Mill, the oldest building in the Rutland Mills complex. Originally a grain store, Phoenix Mill later became a corn mill in the 19th century before transitioning ...
29/11/2024
Dorset County Council's North East Technology Park (NETPark) has been allocated over £11 million towards its expansion. The North East Combined Authority's Cabinet has approved £11.3m of funding for the Sedgefield site from its £160m flagship North East Investment Zone (NEIZ), which aims to drive ...
29/11/2024
Laing O'Rourke, in collaboration with Barnsley College and T3 Training & Development, have opened the UK's first dedicated modern methods of construction (MMC) training facility. The first of its kind training centre represents a groundbreaking step in addressing the UK's construction skills ...
29/11/2024
Aqua Direct are keen to share their support for the Urgent Funding campaign from St Giles Hospice. With a national hospice funding crisis, they need your support more than ever ...
29/11/2024
As we approach the end of 2024, we have been reflecting on what an action-packed year it has been. We have worked with some fantastic clients and sites across the country. We started from our base in Essex over ten years ago, and the demand for trackway has certainly been at its highest ...