In today’s meeting with planning officers, I posed the question that’s been on everyone’s mind for awhile now, is West Way a Local Service Centre, as is claimed in all the Local Plan docs? Or is it a ‘District Centre’ as is broadcast in all the Doric docs?

Stuart Walker said, ‘In planning terms, there is no difference between a Local Centre and a District Centre. It’s just terminology that means nothing.’

Esssentially, they are both ways of describing a town-center-type retail or mixed use area.

In their application, Doric list the address of the development as ‘Botley District Centre West Way Botley’. This will be changed to (I think Stuart said), West Way Centre. Stuart thought it had already been changed, but it hasn’t yet. Let’s keep an eye on it.

To my mind, calling it a District Centre was unnecessary to the success of the panning application approval process, and has served to divert local people’s attention from more material concerns.

Let’s trust the planning officer when he says that what Doric call it makes no difference to what it is.

Let’s also continue to encourage Doric and the Vale to encourage proper naming so as not to mislead people.