The Oxford Green Belt
For over five years since I first became a county councillor in Oxfordshire I've been at the forefront of trying to ensure that there is real local participation in decisions about spatial planning i.e. how we plan for the long-term for our area. As an MP I am unable to get involved in individual planning applications but it is right to campaign about something as important as the Oxford Green Belt.
Unfortunately, our current planning system makes local participation difficult. That is why are seeking to reform the planning system fundamentally. Local residents are all too frequently seen as part of the problem and not part of the solution. That was certainly the case in relation to the attempt by Oxford City Council and the South East Regional authorities to plan for 4,000 houses on the Green Belt at Grenoble Road to the south of the city.
Amongst some, there is a belief that local people cannot make rational decisions on how they want their area to develop. But as the Oxford Green Belt debate has shown, objections to this massive urban extension to Oxford were based both on principle and on technical grounds.
The principle is that the Green Belt still has a real value in protecting both cities and their rural hinterlands from the effects of urban sprawl, more congestion, more carbon emissions and a reduced quality of life. The technical grounds are that urban extensions such as that proposed for Oxford have big questions of sustainability hanging over them and in some cases prevent sustainable solutions being developed for local villages in the surrounding areas.
Equally, Oxford City's attempt to allow a huge wind-turbine to be built just outside Horspath shows scant regard for its neighbours or for the effect this would have on the Green Belt in this area. There is a great need to increase renewable energy use but this has to be seen in the context that not all on-shore locations are by any means suitable for wind-turbines. The location proposed outside Horspath is one location which is not suitable.
Photo acknowledgement: Jo Cartmell
Case Studies
I have summarised below examples of real constituency cases with which I have been asked to help. Personal and identifying details have been removed to protect the privacy of those involved.
Student Finance
A mature student found her student loan tuition fees unpaid after administrative errors had been made. We got the matter resolved so that studies could continue. The constituent said: 'Thank you so much for this, you've managed to sort this in under a week when I've been trying for over 6 months.'
Visa Problems
A constituent requested us to intervene with the UK Borders Agency after the Agency had taken over a year to deal with his case. By working with the Agency and the constituent on the detail of the case we were able to resolve it successfully.
Child Support Agency
After years of trying to resolve his case with the Child Support Agency we were able to cut through the clerical errors and complexity of the case so that correct payments could be made. The case could only be resolved by patient determination over a number of months.
Planning enforcement
Although planning is outside our normal remit, we were able successfully to challenge on behalf of constituents a local district council as to whether it was following due process in relation to a persistent breach of planning which was causing a significant nuisance.
Sewage and water
On behalf of local parish councils we have been able to work with Thames Water to focus on problems of sewage and drainage across a wide area to ensure progress in resolving issues underlying raw sewage washing down a village street.
HMRC
HMRC was about to take action against a local small business, despite having got its tax affairs in order, which would have made it difficult for it to operate. Successful intervention persuaded HMRC that the action they wanted to take was inappropriate.
Air Traffic
In response to complaints about increased aircraft noise, we were able to clarify with the air authorities how aircraft movements are mananged and the reasons why Henley and surrounding villages experience variations in aircraft noise.
Pensioner overpayment
We helped a pensioner negotiate an apparent over-payment of Pension Credit and the details for repayment.
Utilities
We assisted a constituent gain proper compensation from a utilities company following an accident.
Housing
We took up the case of housing for a former member of the armed forces.
