Work on Oxford North Phase One will start soon and construction will affect local residents. Now is the time to tell planners what you think about the detailed proposals and also what might be done to minimise damage to nature, pollution, congestion, and disturbance from noise. Everyone will be affected by proposals for soil movement and lorry movement on the A40, A44, and at the Wolvercote roundabout.
If you live in Goose Green Close, Rawson Close , Mere Road, Millway Close, the tops of Woodstock Road and Godstow Road, Linkside or Lakeside, you will want to look carefully at the proposals for the times and days on which work will be done and when deliveries to the site are proposed.
The West Area Planning Committee two days ago delayed making a decision, by seven votes to two, on the change of use application for the surgery space and workshops to flats until the next meeting. The Committee was seeking clarification of a number of issues. This provides a little time but there is no presumption that it means that an eventual decision will be to reject the planning application, perhaps quite the contrary. However, we will continue to do what we can and keep you in the picture.
Thanks again to all of you who commented to the Council on this planning application.
It will cost £2.62m to expand Wolvercote School and provide the school places needed by the 480 homes planned for Oxford North. The County Council, responsible for the provision of education, was clear that it would object to the planning application for the development unless the funding was secured. The City Council has now chosen to ignore the County Council’s objection and approve the application without making any provision for education funding.
The WNF Steering Committee does its best to represent the views of residents on proposed changes to our neighbourhood. There are currently these three public consultations in progress on plans with potential for such changes. If you are resident in the WNF area (for map see below), please contact us with your opinions: email us at wolvercotenf@gmail.com.
Plans for a major new innovation district, called EXOq, on land west of Frieze Way. Details are on the Cherwell District Council planning website: www.planningregister.cherwell.gov.uk/. Enter the planning application number 26/00720/OUT. The deadline for responding is 23 July.
The former North Oxford Golf Club course. The developer (OUD) is asking for opinions on their initial plans for up to 800 homes on this site. Details are at: www.landwestofoxfordroad.co.uk
Come and have your say on these and more, at our next public meeting: 2026 Winter Open Meeting and AGM on Tuesday 24 November at 7.30pm, at Wolvercote Village Hall.
About the Wolvercote Neighbourhood Forum
The work of the Wolvercote Neighbourhood Forum is done by the volunteers making up its Steering Committee. There is much going on at present in the WNF area.
We need more help.
What we do
We have created the Wolvercote Neighbourhood Plan, approved by residents in the 2021 referendum, and accepted by the City Council. We now monitor all developments and planning applications affecting the area. We respond and challenge when they threaten the vision for our area expressed in the Plan and favoured by residents.
We access money from the ‘Community Infrastructure Levy’ that developers pay the City Council. We use this to provide financial support to local groups with projects improving community infrastructure. The amount of money available is growing, so there is great potential for new projects. The photo below shows an example of a recent project. There are many more!
To do all this effectively, we try as hard as we can to keep in touch with our members (i.e. all residents) through publicity, social media, emails, periodic public meetings etc.
Come and join us
If you are a resident of the WNF area, and are interested in joining us in these tasks, please email us at wolvercotenf@gmail.com .
We especially need more help and expertise in local authority planning issues and communications (particularly social media). We also need volunteers to help with our CIL projects for which we require good social skills and an eye for detail.
