Witney Infrastructure Neighbourhood Group

Witney Infrastructure Neighbourhood Group (WING) has been established to coordinate the responses of local parishes around Witney to the proposals and options for housing development in the North Witney SDA.

WING has representatives from parishes that are mostly, but not wholly, on the north of the Windrush and are most affected by limited access into Witney across the single river crossing in Bridge Street. WING’s membership currently includes:

• Hailey Parish Council
• Crawley Parish Council
• North Leigh Parish Council
• South Leigh Parish Council
• Witney Town Council
• Ramsden Parish Council
• Hanborough Parish Council
• Leafield Parish Council
• Minster Lovell Parish Council
• Ducklington Parish Council

The 2031 West Oxfordshire District Council Local Plan recognises that Witney already suffers from congestion and air pollution and that these problems would be worsened by the increase in population and traffic arising from North Witney housing. The Local Plan therefore requires that the developer funds the construction of the West End Link and the Northern Distributor Road.

WING’s position is that, if North Witney housing goes ahead, it is vital that the associated infrastructure improvements are well thought out and fully delivered. It is important that the best use is made of funding that becomes available to improve local infrastructure. WING has set four main challenges and expects any proposals for development to contribute to these:

• Challenge 1: Construction of the West End Link (WEL)
• Challenge 2: Construction of Northern Distributor Road (NDR)
• Challenge 3: Flood Prevention Measures through the Windrush Valley
• Challenge 4: Community infrastructure as part of the North Witney housing scheme