An Update on Gavray Drive

The information statement below is supplied by Pat Clissold, of Gavray Meadows News. LVCA is sharing it to help update more Langford residents via its own website and social media.

“We now have reached an agreement with L&Q that will allow the Gavray Meadows (Local Wildlife Site (LWS) to become a Local Green Space. The designation still has to be passed by the Cherwell District Council but it should be a formality as it fulfils Bicester Policy 13.

“Two hundred houses will be built on the west side of Langford Brook and fifty along Gavray Drive at the ring-road (A4421) end, along Footpath 129/4.

“The flooding that was on the footpath was an overflow from Thames Water pipes. With the help of L&Q hydrologists this flooding (which was also present along the ridge and furrows in the field bordering the A4421) has been stopped, which benefits the community. The footpath is once again (after 5 years of being under dirty water) a pleasant walk leading to Launton.

“There will not be any development in the LWS or 90% of the Conservation Target Area (CTA) inside Bicester Policy 13. We have been through twelve years when the land belonged to Gallagher Estates. The last three years with L&Q have been one of steady progress towards agreement. It shows what negotiations can achieve!”

Pat Clissold, Gavray Meadows News

(17th October 2023)

Peregrine Way 5G Mast Appeal Dismissed

A government Planning Inspector has now ruled that a proposed 5G mast should not be allowed to be built on a grass verge on Peregrine Way. This supports Cherwell Council’s decision to reject the mast when the proposal was first put forward in summer 2022.

Among the key points is that the Planning Inspector did not consider that the proposed mast had been sympathetically designed as required. Moreover, the development would be harmful to the character and appearance of the area.

To view a copy of the full Inspector’s report please click here.

The 5G Mast Siting – How to Object

Anyone who wishes to object to the proposed siting of the 5G mast on Peregrine Way must do so quickly. The latest date for objections to be submitted is Tuesday 11th July 2023.

Objections can be made by email or by a letter to the Planning Inspectorate. Here are more details provided via Cherwell District Council. The full advice from the Council is found here.

  • If you wish to email any comments, please email East2@planninginspectorate.gov.uk and address your email to the case officer, who in this case is Caroline Harvey. All representations must quote the appeal reference, which is 23/00075/REF
  • If you do not have access to the internet, you can send your comments to Caroline Harvey, The Planning Inspectorate, Room 3B (Eagle Wing) Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Bristol, BS1 6PN. All representations must quote the appeal reference, which is 23/00075/REF
  • Please ensure that any further comments you may wish to make are received at the Planning Inspectorate by 11 July 2023 at the latest, otherwise there is a risk that the Inspector will not see them. If comments are received after the deadline, the Inspector will not normally look at them and they will be returned to you.

The Planning Inspectorate will not acknowledge representations. They will, however, ensure that letters received by the deadline are passed on to the Inspector dealing with the appeal.

The Langford Village Community Association opposes the siting of the 16m tall mast (with three associated cabinets) at the current proposed location on the grass verge near Falcon Mead and Merlin Way – but is not against the 5G mast being built elsewhere in the vicinity which is more clearly acceptable and will not cause detriment to the people who live on Langford.

A mast of a similar height and look to the one proposed for the side of Peregrine Way

Please use the buttons below to share to your social media or individuals who be interested in taking such action over the mast.

HUGE NEW 5G MAST ON PEREGRINE WAY MAY STILL BE BUILT

A government Planning Inspector must now rule on whether a towering 5G mast to improve mobile signal coverage should be built on a grass verge alongside Peregrine Way at Langford Village. 

Cherwell District Council threw out the original plan for the 16m tall mast in August last year on grounds of its adverse visual impact and detriment to local residents. But now the company that’s seeking permission to build – CK Hutchison Networks – has launched a formal appeal as it still wishes to go ahead on the same chosen site.

Anyone who wishes to add further comments, either in support or opposition, now has until 13th July 2023 to submit them. Before making a decision the government Planning Inspector will then make a visit to the site, which is near the junction to Merlin Way but on the opposite side of the road and towards Falcon Mead and the roundabout. 

A number of local objectors, including the LVCA, have also opposed the chosen site as they also believe it’s unsuitable but have suggested that the applicants to build the mast should seek a better site somewhere else that’s still in the Langford vicinity.

An idea of how the Langford mast would look – this one is on Leach Road in west Bicester

To view the original LVCA posts on the Langford mast please click here and also here

Langford 5G Mast Site Ruled Unsuitable

The proposed 5G mast would look the same as this one in west Bicester.

The 5G telecom tower proposed for Peregrine Way has failed to win approval of Cherwell District Council and is being refused planning permission. Council officers say the mast would bring ‘demonstrable harm to visual amenity’ and cause detriment to living conditions for nearby residents.

We don’t yet know whether the telecoms firm that wishes to build the mast to improve coverage here will make any alternative proposal or whether it might appeal the decision to refuse it at that spot.

The LVCA was among the organisations and people who objected to the 16m tall mast being placed at the chosen spot and suggested consideration was given to putting it somewhere else on Langford Village.

Langford’s 5G Controversy

OBJECTIONS TO PROPOSED SITING OF NEW MAST ON LANGFORD VILLAGE

A number of Langford Village residents have now formally opposed the building of a 16 metre high mast designed to improve coverage for local mobile services and marked to be built on Peregrine Way.  The 5G mast and kerbside cabinets, shown in the diagram, would be sited on the verge near the junction with Merlin Way and on the opposite side of the road (see photo in which the position is shown with a traffic cone).

Images from the Langford 5G mast planning application documents

Details first appeared on the Cherwell District Council Planning Register in early July 2022 with local residents then given a short time to send in comments. The application for the mast has been made by telecoms firm CK Hutchison Networks. LVCA shared news of this development on its social media as soon as it was made aware of the application appearing on the Council’s Planning Register.

A Langford facebook poll then showed a clear majority – by 2 to 1 –  in favour of the local area having such a mast but with a significant number of comments also arguing that it shouldn’t  be placed where indicated but should be built elsewhere instead.  One highly suggested location is on the middle of the Peregrine Way roundabout with exits to Falcon Mead and Osprey Close. 

Several residents have now written to object to the mast for a number of different reasons and they include the Chairman of LVCA, Carole Hetherington, who has asked that a reconsideration is made on the siting as many more suitable/less intrusive spots could be identified for it in Langford’s community. Other objectors have raised issues of concern about visual impact and some have outlined fears over whether or not there could be an associated effect on health.

To read the comments on the planning register please click here and then find the ‘Supporting Docs’ section. A decision on the mast will need to be made by Cherwell District Council.

A 5G mast with an identical design to the one proposed at Langford Village has recently been installed on Leach Road in west Bicester – as shown here. These masts are around twice the height of a standard lamppost.

Leach Road, west Bicester. (Picture: Derek Finlay)

East West Rail Consultation 2021 – Our Response

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London Road level crossing in Bicester

To read the document that Langford Village Community Association has submitted to the East West Rail Consultation please click here. We are making the case for the London Road route to remain open to vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists. Our residents have indicated they most prefer a new road bridge being built alongside the existing road, for use when the level crossing is permanently closed because of increased rail services.

London Road crossing – the Technical Report

What’s involved in building a new road layout?

The East West Rail Company has already looked in some detail at the challenges of providing an alternative route for vehicles when, as seems likely, the London Road level crossing is closed because of safety linked to the new rail services to Milton Keynes and Cambridge.

We’ve extracted the pages of information from the Consultation Technical Report so that the details are easy to find. The pages can be viewed if you click here.

You can submit your thoughts to the Consultation here. Closing date is June 9th 2021.

London Road crossing – the EWR options

View the alternatives for the probable permanent closure of the level crossing.

London Road level crossing in Bicester

The East West Rail project has published details of 6 options that it is considering for the resolution of the issues at London Road level crossing in Bicester. Each option involves closing the existing level crossing because it says there are safety concerns linked to the crossing being closed for up to 50 minutes in each hour when the new rail services begin (probably in 2025).

Click here to read about the proposals in the extracted pages from the EWR’s full consultation document that was issued on 31st March 2021.

To go on to read more in-depth technical assessments of each proposal click here.

EWR is open to receive residents’ feedback on the proposals in a consultation period that ends on 9th June 2021. Click here to go to the consultation pages.

Go here to complete the EWR consultation feedback form and submit it.

New homes development on Gavray Drive – LVCA response

The LVCA has recently responded to the latest proposals to build over 200 new homes on Gavray Drive. Work is expected to take place from 2023 and will take several years to complete. To read the full LVCA response document to Cherwell District Council planners please click here.