The following are draft documents regarding the Review of the Mid Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan (MCNP), which, among many other things, is considering the potential for any housing in its larger villages, including Kirtlington.

These documents have been submitted to Kirtlington Parish Council for consideration.  They are being made available to the public as the next part of the village consultation about the assessment of possible sites for housing around the village for the purposes of the MCNP Review.

The Report below explains the reasons for these assessments for the MCNP and the next steps.  Consideration of the report will take place at an Extraordinary Parish Council meeting scheduled for 27th November 2023.

Report

Appendix 1;

• Kirtlington Site Assessment KT1
• Kirtlington Site Assessment KT2
• Kirtlington Site Assessment KT3
• Kirtlington Site Assessment KT4
• Kirtlington Site Assessment KT7
• Kirtlington Site Assessment KT8

Appendices 2-7

• Appendix 2 – Kirtlington map with original categorisation of Sites
• Appendix 3 – Kirtlington Site Owners Addresses (private & confidential and not available)
• Appendix 4 – MCNP Site Assessment RAG form Template
• Appendix 5 – RAG Scores all Sites
• Appendix 6 – Kirtlington Village Meeting Transcript 05.10.23
• Appendix 7 – Kirtlington Public Comments

Comments may be emailed to the MCNP Forum – mcnpsites@gmail.com – and will be collated with those received in response to the Reg 14 consultation in early 2024.

Click to Download the Agenda

KIRTLINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

I hereby give notice that the next meeting of the Parish Council will be held

on Monday 23^rd October at 6.30 p.m. in the Village Church

            R M Powles, Clerk

1	Apologies
2	Declarations of pecuniary interests / other conflicts of interest
3	Approval of the Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 21st September 2023 (circulated/posted on Village Website)
4	District & County Councillor Reports / Members of the public
	Cherwell DC (if attending, 10 minutes’ speaking time allowed) Oxfordshire CC (if attending, 10 minutes’ speaking time allowed)        Additional members of the public may be invited to speak at the Chair’s discretion – 10 minutes’ total speaking time allowed. Individual time allowed 3 minutes; there may be no later opportunity to speak again.
5	Parish Council vacancy:  Consideration of co-option of member
	To consider:  Co-option of Cllr Simon Holland
6	Highways (including road safety, place-making and traffic calming)
	OCC 20mph Steering Group:  JC   KPC Traffic Subcommittee, update on traffic calming proposals for village:  JC   Roadside grass verges and environment:  BE
7	Parish Council-owned asset and community assets
	Allotments and Community Orchard:  BE
8	Maintenance (Parish Council and community assets):  priority actions
	Kirtlington Conservation Area and village centre (protection of public amenity and heritage, protection of central village area from vehicle erosion of public grassed areas at North and South Greens); (i) To note, South Green repainting of white chevrons on speed bumps before winter:  BE (ii) To note, Replacement tree planting, tree health and safety survey, tree surgery. Boward’s remedial work to Parish Council-owned trees, work scheduled 18th – 21st September. DG (iii) To note: Mowing contracts 2023 (updates):  BE
9	Village Hall, Sports Field and Play Areas
	KVHMC Committee meeting, Monday 16 October:  JC / BE  Sports field outfield maintenance; Scout Hut, other:  DGPlay Areas (Sports field and Roman Close):  DG Churchyard extension:  JC

9	Parish Services
	(a) To consider: Community Shop update: JC/All
10	Recent Parish Events, Correspondence
	Lamb Ale 2023 (2nd – 5th June); Lamb Ale 2024:  format, funfair provision, promotion of historic village event:  BEKite Festival, 9th – 11th June, updates:   All
11	Planning
	Monthly Parish planning application report: JC To note:  Consultation Draft Cherwell Local Plan 2040 Review: 6-week public consultation period. Opened Friday 22nd September and closes Friday 3rd November 2023. To consider: Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan (MCNP) Policy Review Report and Recommendations: KC
12	Parish Council priorities
	Website and Facebook communications with village:  BE / KC
13	Finance
	To consider, Monthly receipts & payments (Clerk’s report): JC, AllTo note, updates:  Charges for provision of two dog bins (further to 2023-24 approved Budget):  BETo note, payment options and bank mandate:  JCTo consider:  Assets, future costs and possible revenue sources:  JC, All
14	Dates of the next Parish Council meeting(s)
	To consider, Meeting dates for November and December 2023
15	Other matters for information not elsewhere on the agenda (not for debate/decision) and items for future agendas
	Other matters: County Councillor Priority Funding (period April 2023 – March 2024) Items for future agendas Invite Kite Festival team to discuss feedback on 2023 and considerations for 2024 October onwards:  MCNP policy review in conjunction with Cherwell Local Plan 2040 Review Ongoing:  Parish Council assets – maintenance; replacement tree planting, tree surgery; Village website review.
16	Critical dates
17	Other dates
	Saturday 11th November 15th November (assumed) 26th October and 7th November	Fireworks at Village Hall Village News deadline Winter Warmer lunchtimes 11.00am-2pm, Village Hall

Kirtlington Parish Council and Mid Cherwell Neighbourhood Forum

PARISH CONSULTATION MEETING “Future Housing for Kirtlington?”

Thursday 5th October 2023 at 6.30pm in the Village Hall

Background to the meeting

Kirtlington Parish Council proposes to hold a Parish Consultation meeting as Cherwell District Council (CDC) is in the process of reviewing its Local Plan to 2040 which includes indicative housing requirements for larger villages like Kirtlington.  CDC is not specifying numbers by each larger village, but 500 overall are sought from the larger villages.  The CDC Local Plan will be published for consultation very shortly. 

The Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan Forum (MCNP) is also in the process of reviewing its Neighbourhood Plan to cover the same period to 2040.  Kirtlington has been one of the 12 member parishes in the MCNP since 2015 and the Parish Council is participating in the MCNP’s review.  Neighbourhood Plans were introduced by the Localism Act of 2011 to enable parishes to make locally-specific policies alongside their District Council’s Local Plans.

The meeting

The meeting on 5^th October will include briefing on how the MCNP’s review is considering the potential for any housing in its larger villages.  Specifically, the focus of the meeting will be on Kirtlington, and the primary purpose of the meeting is to present information about the assessment of possible sites for housing around the village for the purposes of the MCNP review.  The presentation will include a map showing where all the possible sites are and details about how the sites are being assessed.  It will be an opportunity for Kirtlington residents to say what they think about the future housing needs of the village, and about the sites under discussion.

There will be ample time for questions and discussion, and the meeting is timed to be before there are any outcomes from the MCNP’s review to ensure that the views expressed by Kirtlington’s parishioners can be taken into account.  More details for the meeting will be published nearer the time.  Look out for these on the village noticeboards, on the village website and on Facebook.

The meeting Agenda

Kirtlington Parish Council and Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan Forum

Notice of Parish Meeting issued 26^th September 2023

Jean Conway, Chair, Kirtlington Parish Council

PUBLIC MEETING

Thursday October 5th 2023 at 6:30 pm Kirtlington Village Hall

FUTURE HOUSING FOR KIRTLINGTON?

AGENDA

1. Welcome and introductions

2. Background to this meeting

3. The assessment process

4. Questions / comments on the process?

5. Questions / comments on the assessment criteria?

6. Any other sites?

7. Questions / comments on individual sites?

8. Next steps

Email any comments to mcnpsites@gmail.com

 Further background and Update, September 2023.

Mid Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan Housing Site Assessments in Kirtlington

This Update has been produced in advance of the Public Meeting on Thursday, October 5^th at 6.30pm in Kirtlington Village Hall. It is intended to give those intending to come to the meeting an opportunity to consider the findings so far of the site assessment process. It should be read in conjunction with the Map, the List of Sites and the Assessment Criteria. For those unable to attend, please see the last paragraph.

• The Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan (MCNP), written and developed by local people, was officially adopted in 2019. It includes planning policies that support housing development in Steeple Aston, Fritwell and Kirtlington, but which also limit the extent of growth to about 5% of existing dwelling numbers in the period to 2031. In Kirtlington’s case, the growth figure was 17 dwellings. The MCNP is now under review by the MCNP Forum of 12 parishes, including Kirtlington, presenting the opportunity to improve existing policies and add new ones in response to climate change and environmental protection. It is also an opportunity to look again at local housing need and ways of meeting it.

• In January 2023 Cherwell District Council published a first version of its proposed Local Plan to 2040 (subsequently put on hold). Proposals in that draft Plan suggested that Steeple Aston and Kirtlington (the two “large villages” in the Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan area), might be expected to take 46 and 47 new houses respectively during the plan period. This would represent growth of the order of 11%.

• Following local elections and a change of political control, Cherwell District Council re-started their Local Plan process with the same policies as seen in January, but with some of the detail omitted. Their Local Plan to 2040 was finally issued for consultation on September 22^nd 2023. The policy for rural areas remains as it was, with a proposal to distribute 500 new homes around the same 11 “large villages” as before, but now specific numbers per village have been withheld. There is renewed emphasis on the ability of neighbourhood plans in these areas to allocate housing sites, if they wish to do so.

• As part of the MCNP Review, and with the agreement of both parish councils, teams were established in both Steeple Aston and Kirtlington to identify and assess possible housing sites in each village. The Kirtlington team comprises Kay Chacksfield, Briony Enser, Christine Marsh and Helen MacBeth. A common process is being used for both villages on the eligibility of sites, the assessment criteria, the basis for scoring and the community consultation process. Contact with land owners/interests has also been undertaken.

• However, the process is still open to further ideas. Sites were not eligible for allocation if their site area was below a threshold size of 5 houses, or if no possible access appeared feasible. Such sites could however potentially be developed in future as unplanned “windfall sites” if the problems are overcome

• The 12 sites being assessed are shown on the accompanying map. Owners have indicated whether the sites are available for development now, at some future date, or not at all. For Kirtlington, there are six available sites (Sites 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 & 8) and six sites which are not available (Sites 5, 6, 9, 10, 11 & 12).

• The criteria attached are based on national standards and are as objective and factual as possible. Whilst it will not be practical at the meeting to go through all the criteria for each of the 12 sites, your observations are welcomed on the criteria themselves, and on how they apply to individual sites. Your comments at the meeting, or by email (see last paragraph), will supplement the views of the assessment team in arriving at final recommendations.   

• Existing MCNP policies also require the sites for any new housing to be immediately adjacent to the settlement area.  The MCNP objective is that the numbers should be informed by the preferred sites, and by community preferences, and not by a top-down approach. At this stage, we do not know if one or more sites, or indeed none at all, will be recommended.

• Any site or sites to be allocated will have a recommended maximum number of dwellings per site, and can require a particular mix, type, design etc., as well as community facilities if these are needed.  Views expressed on the mix and type of housing are welcome, e.g., whether these are for housing for older people, like bungalows, or starter homes for younger people or larger family homes.

• No decisions regarding preferred sites have yet been taken: community views are an important part of the process. Recommendations will go to the October meetings of both parish councils, then to the MCNP Forum. An independent evaluation of all the sites from the MCNP Forum’s consultants will also be taken into account.

• In November, the draft MCNP Review, incorporating any recommendations on housing allocation in the two villages, will go out to full public consultation. In Spring 2024 a further draft of the MCNP’s Review will be formally submitted to Cherwell District Council, who will consult once again. An Examiner will then be appointed to decide whether the Plan can proceed to referendum, planned for early Summer 2024. Success at referendum brings the revised Plan immediately into force.

• It may also be possible to achieve a desirable outcome for the village, with landowner support, by establishing a community-led housing process (e.g., with a Community Land Trust). Discussions with experts in this field are also underway. There are many hurdles to overcome before any such schemes could begin on the ground.

Thank you for reading this update. We hope you will be able to attend the meeting to hear what others have to say, and to raise your own questions or comments. If you are not able to attend, please email any questions or comments to mcnpsites@gmail.com either before or after the meeting, and we will do our best to reply.

(Kirtlington Site Assessment Team)

Map of the 12 sites being assessed in Kirtlington

MCNP Site Assessment Criteria

Issue	Green	Amber	Red	RATING
1.      Current Use	Vacant	Existing uses may need to be relocated	Loss of important local asset
2.      Relationship with Settlement Boundary	Site adjoins settlement boundary on more than one side	Site adjoins settlement boundary on one side	Site not contiguous with settlement boundary
3.      Topography	Flat or gently sloping site	Undulating site, though slope can be mitigated to accommodate development	Severe slope that cannot be mitigated
4.      Greenfield or Previously Developed Land	Previously developed land (brownfield)	Mixture of brownfield & greenfield land	Greenfield land
5.      Agricultural Land Classification	Land classified as Grade 3b or below or N/A	Land classified as Grade 3a (Best and Most Versatile)	Land classified as Grade 1 or 2 (Best and Most Versatile)
6.      Landscape Character (sense of place)	Site has indistinct character	Site has moderate character, typical of its surroundings	Site has strong positive character, with features worthy of conservation
7.      Relationship with existing pattern of built development	Consistent with existing settlement pattern	Some inconsistency with existing settlement pattern but can be mitigated	Wholly inconsistent with existing settlement pattern
8.      Site Visibility	Site visible from a small number of properties	Land visible from a range of sources; could be mitigated through landscaping or planting	Prominent visibility.  Difficult to improve
9.       Likelihood of setting precedent of further adjacent development	Little likelihood of this scenario arising	Uncertain, but could be some likelihood of this scenario arising	High likelihood
10.    Important Woodlands, Trees & Hedgerows	None affected	Mitigation measures required	Site would harm or require removal of ancient tree or hedge (or TPO)
11.    Local Wildlife Designations (LWS or LNR)	No impact on wildlife designations	Small to medium impact but with potential to mitigate	Statutorily protected site affected
12.    Proximity to habitats with potential for protected species (e.g. Ponds with GCN)	No impact on habitats	Small to medium impact but with potential to mitigate	Statutorily protected species/habitats likely to be impacted
13.    Listed Building or important built assets and their setting.	No harm to listed building	Less than substantial harm	Substantial harm
14.    Impact on the Conservation Area or its setting.	No harm	Less than substantial harm	Substantial harm
15.    Ancient monuments or archaeological remains.	No harm to an ancient monument or remains site	Less than substantial harm to an ancient monument or remains site	Substantial harm to an ancient monument or remains site
16.    Impact on Registered Park and Garden	No harm or N/A	Less than substantial harm	Substantial harm
17.    Flood Zone Classification	Site in Flood Zone 1	Site in Flood Zone 2	Site in Flood Zone 3
18.    Any surface water flooding/drainage issues	No drainage issues identified	Need for mitigation (SuDS)	Drainage concerns.
19.    Any known contamination issues	No contamination issues	Minor mitigation required	Major mitigation required
20.    Any existing public rights of ways/bridle paths.	No impact on public right of way	Detrimental to public right of way	Re-routing required or would cause significant harm
21.    Safe pedestrian access to and from the site.	Existing footpath	No footpath but can be created	No potential for footpath
22.    Safe vehicular traffic to and from the site.	Appropriate access can be easily provided	Appropriate access can only be provided with significant improvement	Appropriate access cannot be provided
23.    Impact on existing vehicular traffic.	Impact on village centre minimal	Medium scale impact on village centre	Major impact on village centre
24.    Safe access to a bus stop with current service	A distance of 250m or less	A distance of 251-500m	A distance of greater than 501m
25.    Distance to village hall	A distance of 250m or less	A distance of 251-500m	A distance of greater than 501m
26.    Distance to equipped area of play (LAP, LEAP, NEAP)	A distance of 250m or less	A distance of 251-500m	A distance of greater than 501m
27.    Distance to amenity green space (LGS)/ outdoor sports facility	A distance of 250m or less	A distance of 251-500m	A distance of greater than 501m
28.    Distance to Primary School	A distance of 250m or less	A distance of 251-500m	A distance of greater than 501m
29.    Distance to village shop	A distance of 250m or less	A distance of 251-500m	A distance of greater 501m
30.    Overhead electricity transmission network.	Site unaffected	Re-siting may be necessary	Re-siting may not be possible
31.    Noise impact on site.	No noise issues; peaceful site	Mitigation may be necessary	Noise issues will be an ongoing concern

SCORING Number of Green scores = (add) x 5 = (total) Number of Amber Scores = (add) x 3 = (total) Number of Red Scores = (add) x 1= (total)

Final score Maximum score available: 31 x 5 = 155

Tree surgeons (Bowards) will be working on Parish Council-owned trees in the village centre, Monday 18th – Thursday 21st September. Most of the work will be in the Sports field and village hall car park area, including: the Play Area at the Sports field, trees around the Sports field, the trees alongside the car park verge and at the gate to the Park. Work will also be carried out to one tree on South Green, three trees at the Pond, and the tree at the Pound. The work is mostly the removal of deadwood and of low hanging branches where this is a safety consideration. Planning permission for the work has been obtained from Cherwell District Council. The Parish Council has liaised in advance with the Village Hall Management Committee and the Sports field maintenance volunteers, the mowing contractors for the village greens and Sports field, and KWACS.