Infrastructure
4.2 Combining North Witney and Hailey Parish’s needs.
North Witney will become part of Hailey, with access to Hailey Village Hall, play park, recreation ground and pump track, the rugby club, school and public house, and other Hailey businesses.
The development straddles Hailey and Witney, in walking distance of both, and new residents will lean heavily on Witney town centre as a service centre. They will also make use of expanded Hailey facilities and Madely Park Hall and shops as additional local centres.
The Hailey-Neighbourhood-Plan contains policies for the needs of the pre-existing parts of Hailey and for this anticipated development. WING parishes support Hailey and its Neighbourhood Plan and ask that the Plan is adhered to.
Comparison of the main aspects that are included in the Hailey Neighbourhood Plan with the aspects that are proposed by the North Witney Land Consortium show significant differences.
Hailey Neighbourhood Plan (HNP)
- Community centre
- Sports centre
- Playing pitch provision
- Play area provision for children and adults
- Allotments
- Health Care facilities
- Burial ground provision
- Upgrade of Public Rights of Way connecting Hailey to the development
- Dark Night skies
North Witney outline proposals
- A new 2 form entry (FE) Primary School (Use Class F1);
- A Local Centre with up to 400 m2 of community facilities, co-working, mobility hub and retail facilities (Use Class E and F2);
- Maintained and enhanced access to the existing Public Rights of Way;
- Provision of community allotments and Local Areas of Play;
- New vehicular, pedestrian and cycle access to the Site from New Yatt Road and Hailey Road with connections to the existing Public Rights of Way Network;
- Appropriate SuDS infrastructure basins and attenuation ponds;
- Enhanced green infrastructure, including open green space and landscaping to assimilate the development within the wider landscape and create a soft edge to the development.
WING would welcome the opportunity to liaise with WODC Planning and the developer to refine the community infrastructure elements of any revised application that the developer is considering. However, the content of the initial submission for outline planning permission does not satisfy Hailey Parish Council and WING remains as an objector at this stage.
Without a community infrastructure policy, there is a risk that the developer will provide token levels of infrastructure that produce sterile, soulless, and characterless developments. As a consequence, residents of North Witney would have to travel into Witney to access any type of community facilities, contributing further to the existing traffic congestion in Witney.
The NPPF overall strategy is to support strong, vibrant, and healthy communities, by
“… fostering well-designed, beautiful and safe places, with accessible services and open spaces that reflect current and future needs and support communities’ health, social and cultural well-being”.
For a successful community to develop, residents need transport, proximity to places of work, and the provision of facilities for education, shopping, health care, sports and play areas, green spaces, and places to meet. Places for the community to connect and socialise need to be planned and provided.