Stop the Wolf – Planning Update!

We think it’s right to update all our supporters on the very considerable planning work that has been ongoing to fight Great Wolf’s plans to build a massive destination resort at Chesterton.

The plans – as you may remember – were originally unanimously rejected by Cherwell District Council last year but Great Wolf has now appealed; the hearing before a planning inspector will decide the matter once and for all and is set to start on 9 February.

The surrounding villages (33 to date) have united to form Parishes Against Wolf (PAW) in support of our efforts. This is tremendous and heart-warming and demonstrates the strength of feeling throughout the area against this monstrous proposal.

We really do have a very strong case on many fronts. PAW has what is called “Rule 6 Party” status, meaning we class as an interested party – this entitles us to build on the case that was made at the first planning hearing by CDC last March and also to introduce additional points, for instance particularly with regards to traffic.

We have assembled a really strong professional team comprising:

• Sasha White QC of Landmark Chambers supported by Junior Counsel Anjoli Foster.
• Steven Sensecall of Carter Jonas Planning Consultants
• Rupert Lyons of Transport Planning Associates Traffic Consultants
• Andrew Cook of Pegasus Landscape and Environmental Impact consultants
• Dominic Woodfield of Bioscan-Ecology and Biodiversity.

In total there will now be 17 witnesses at the inquiry – meaning the time allocated has had to be extended.

The hearing be virtual and will run for 4 weeks with a break in the third week (due to unavailability of several participants). It will proceed on a topic by topic basis - the running order is still being discussed and there will generally be three sessions per day.

The extra week has resulted in additional costs for PAW and we are very grateful for all the generosity from the local community to date- but we still have a way to go!

The inquiry will be live streamed on the Planning Inspectorate YouTube Channel using the following link https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQqDetL1R5aRgbNm8PDViNw.

Please do regularly tune into the live stream – this helps to show how important this is to the local community. A decision is expected two to three months after the inquiry ends.

The Planning Inspectorate and Sasha White our QC have asked us to coordinate members of the public (around 25) to speak at the Inquiry on 11^th February (5.30pm to 8pm). We are compiling a balanced number of participants to cover different topics.

This session will also be live streamed – again please tune in and show support if possible. There will also be other opportunities for members of the public to speak – these details are given in recent letters from CDC to all those who have written objection letters.

We have been greatly impressed with our team’s professionalism and commitment. All Proofs of Evidence were submitted to the Inspector and shared with the 3 parties last week. Working with our advisers we continue to closely examine Great Wolf’s submissions which we think are fundamentally flawed.

All Proofs are now available on Cherwell’s Planning Portal - but please note they run to many thousands of pages!

So please be assured that everything is being done to defeat this wholly opportunistic, damaging and inappropriate proposal - we remain confident that together we will do just that.