Peeling signs in West Way. Imagine tumbleweeds and whistling wind down an abandoned road.
Have we seen the last of Doric in these parts? Maybe. Maybe not.
When the Vale planning committee unanimously refused Doric’s plan on 3 Dec 2014, it triggered a series of events and decisions that will have a long term effect.
- Doric filed an official appeal just before Christmas. If they hadn’t done this, the contact conditions would have failed to be met, and the sales contract ended. Doric wanted to continue the fight. The Vale now had to decide what to do.
- Vale Leader Matthew Barber changed his tune. All of a sudden he said he was on the side of the community. But he wanted to renegotiate with Doric, because basically he still wanted the redevelopment to go ahead.
- Leader Barber called a series of meetings designed to bring Doric/Mace and the community together. Invited: parish council(s), local Vale councillors, Tory Cabinet members, Mace representative, West Way Community Concern.
- Mace announced they would be taking the lead from here, not Doric. They said they will lead the community discussions and consultation. (So, maybe we’ve seen the last of Doric?)
- Leader Barber said he wanted to extend Doric/Mace’s sale contract in order to allow the developers time to come back to the table with a new planning application.
- Mace’s new planning application would be for a smaller site, limiting redevelopment (no longer calling it ‘regeneration’) to the original ‘site 1’ and West Way Shopping Centre.
- Removed from their plans are the Vicarage, Field House, and Elms Parade. These are the properties that Vale Tories said they would seize by using compulsory purchase orders, which local people felt was absolutely unacceptable.
- In exchange for extending the contract, Mace said they would withdraw their appeal. (I haven’t yet seen evidence that they have done that. 17 Apr 15)
- Leader Barber needed to make that decision before the end of March, when election purdah began. Councils cannot make decisions with a political overtone (or undertone) during purdah.
- He decided to extend the contract between Doric and the Vale. (So, is Doric still involved? There’s been no sign of the principals.) He annouced his decision on 13 Mar 2015. I published his decision doc previously.
- Work has now begun to coordinate community consultations that will inform a new planning application. Realistic timelines are that a new application wold be determined by maybe Feb or Mar 2016. But that timeline is yet to be decided.
- Nothing of any note is expected to be accomplished until after the election on 7th May.
- (No sooner did I write item 12, than I had a notice from Vale Planning Policy department informing me they’ve hired a consultant to run the Botley Development Forum, and that they may start as early as next week. I’m not sure about their timing. There’s an election on.)
In my opinion, the people won this battle, but the war continues.
Had Leader Barber not extended Doric’s contract, the appeal would have gone ahead. Maybe. Doric/Mace may have decided it wasn’t worth the money and effort and withdrawn their appeal anyway. Or, the inspector may have dismissed it. Doric have a poor track record when it comes to the completeness of their submissions in the past, and the Inspector may not have been as kindly in offering second chances to Doric. Even if it went to appeal, the inspector might have agreed with the planning committee and the community, and that would have been it.
I’m disappointed that Vale didn’t fight for what was right for Botley and choose to defend their own planning decision. However, that would have taken quite a bit of courage and sophistication. Was it realistic to expect that Leader Barber, who for years has been decidedly and publicly pro-Doric, would be able to change his colours and lead a successful legal defense of the Vale’s refusal of this application? I don’t think so. Especially as now we know that he decided to give Doric/Mace another chance and extended their contract for at least a year.
It may well be that this was the best deal we could expect from the Vale Tories.
If the election outcome on 7 May leads to a change in administration, then we might be able to radically change the course of the future of central Botley. If not, I expect we will still see a proposal that gains a net loss in local shops, in exchange for Mace’s pet schemes: student housing and multi-plex cinema. I hope I’m wrong about Mace’s plans.
Are Doric gone for good? Well, they’ve done no website updates, Facebook posts or Tweets since 2 December 2014.