My objection to the West Way planning application

I’ve just filed my formal objection to the West Way planning application. Here’s what I’ve said:

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The future of West Way

14 April 2016

Do you remember how Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters did everything they could to cram their big feet into the delicate glass slipper, hoping that they would win the hand of the handsome prince? They cut off their own toes and heels to try to cheat their way to riches.

Vale and its sales partner Doric/Mace seek to cram hundreds of student dormitory and hotel rooms into several 6 to 9 storey buildings in this local service centre in Botley. These plans provide fewer shops than we have now, in order to fit in more student accommodation, in order to maximise their profit. They foresee immense riches if they succeed. They will make their profit by gaining permission for inappropriate development of a small plot of land that is meant to serve the local shopping and service needs of local people for the next 50+ years.

There are two fundamental traps here.

  • First, there’s an aphorism that the perfect is the enemy of the good. In other words, while we await the perfect solution, a good one sails on by.
  • Second, we’re led to think we are faced with Hobson’s choice. That is, it’s either this Mace plan, or nothing at all. This belief has caused several people to give up.

I’ve personally struggled with both of these. I want to come down on the side of what is most likely to be best for Botley; not wait for the unrealistically perfect solution, but also not acquiesce to something we are trapped into accepting. The growing local fear is that Vale will continue their managed decline of the tired old shopping centre until local people and planning committee will decide that anything is better than this.

I’ve come to the conclusion that this solution isn’t good for the future of Botley. We thought at the time of the last application that it was a matter of Doric’s plan, or nothing. But it wasn’t true at all. Cabinet decided to have another go with the same buyer, and we’ve had to go through it all again. I think that if this proposal, which is hard to argue is good for Botley, is turned down, something truly good has a chance to arise.

The fundamental problems introduced at the very beginning of this sales and planning deal have led us to this current situation. The applicant’s intended uses contravene the council’s declared purpose of this shopping centre and the policies that have been put into effect over the years to protect it.

  1. Vale’s original idea (from about 2009) was to sell the easternmost send of the site (‘Site 1’) for redevelopment, and use some of the proceeds from the sale to improve West Way Shopping Centre.
  2. When the new Cabinet took over in 2011, Site 1 was still for sale. West Way Shopping Centre was not.
  3. A buyer came along offering a LOT of money (the Vale’s consultants called it ‘a good price’) but they wanted to buy West Way Shopping Centre as well. They planned to build several hundred student dorm rooms, as well as the night-time entertainment facilities those students would want. Cabinet thought this sounded very profitable, so agreed to the broader sale.
  4. The sale of West Way Shopping Centre should have gone to the open market, rather than being arranged as a back room deal between Vale and Doric.
  5. Vale Cabinet should have considered their current polices and their long-term intentions to improve this area as a Local Service Centre.
  6. Vale Cabinet should have consulted with local people and members about these proposed changes.
  7. Instead, Vale Cabinet did a deal with Doric that will fundamentally change the character of this area. It’s a land sale deal that had a requirement that Doric get planning permission within a specified time period. That would be difficult to accomplish because the plans contravened lots of planning policies. But Vale helped in that, by creating policy in the emerging Local Plan 2031 that supported Doric’s plans. Vale also helped by agreeing to use compulsory purchase orders to acquire anyone’s property that stood in the way of Doric’s development. Vale didn’t consult local people or members about this.
  8. Two years later, Vale Planning Committee saw that Doric’s plans contravened our policies, and refused the application.
  9. By the terms within the land sales contracts, that should’ve been it: if no planning permission was received by end of Dec 2014, the sale deal was over. Local people thought it was ‘back to the drawing board’ and we would be able to work with a new buyer to get the right development for Botley.
  10. But Vale tried to help Doric further, so that both their profits could be realised. Cabinet changed the terms of the sales contract to give Doric another couple of years to get their planning permission. Cabinet also lowered the expectation of development by allowing a smaller food store, more hotel rooms, and other changes to make it easier to meet the contract criteria. Over the next year, Cabinet helped the applicant further by adopting a controversial Botley SPD. All so they could finally collect that ‘good price’ for selling the land.
  11. All along, members of Vale Cabinet who decided about land sales contracts included cabinet members responsible for planning. This conflict of interest has been pointed out many times in scores of consultation responses over the years.
  12. In January 2016, Cabinet adopted the Botley SPD, which still contravenes extant planning policy.
  13. The proposals in this planning application are neither compliant with our saved policies, nor the Botley SPD, nor with our Design Guide. It’s even non-compliant with NPPF. There are well-argued consultation responses on the website that document all the policy contraventions. Please, planning officers and planning committee members, read them.

So here we are, in a real mess. These sales contracts date back to late in 2012; the people who work and live in my community have been enduring this for nearly four years. Many residents have collapsed under the load of worry and now say, ‘Just get on with it.’ If that was the Vale’s strategy for the win, it’s simply unacceptable. If it’s just been an error-strewn exercise, we deserve an apology and a do-over.

This planning application for Botley centre contravenes planning policy and also Council’s explicit intentions for long term improvements to the Botley local service centre. At the same time, years of neglect by Council has brought about living accommodations not fit for purpose, empty disused office buildings, vacant shops and a run-down centre.

Vale needs to do a better job of seeing that the redevelopment of Botley centre meets local needs.

I object to the current planning applications for all the reasons stated so well in the public responses to the consultation.