Please come to the Pound at 11am on Saturday 28th September to take part in the planting of two fruit trees to mark the completion of the renovation works to the Pound.
All welcome.
Free ice cream will be available. Let’s hope the weather is good!
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Planning Status Update in Response to Enquiries from Residents – September 2019
A few months ago the Planning Department at Cherwell District Council was contacted by a resident who asked them to investigate whether the Parish Council had broken planning rules by not seeking planning permission for the re-development of the Pound.
The position of the Parish Council was that the work was planned and undertaken under Permitted Development rights on a Parish-owned piece of land under its control. This followed earlier consultations with Cherwell District Council, who were involved throughout the early stages, had supported the funding application and once we were successful, agreed to financially support the project too.
Because the issue had been formally raised with them, CDC were duty bound to investigate. Their determination is below:
“The conclusion reached is that the change of use of the land has been carried out under permitted development rights and that the wall can be considered to be permitted development because of the distance between it and the highway. Even were it to be argued that it does lie adjacent to the highway then it would not be considered in the public interest to pursue the matter further as the height and lack of impact on highway safety would mean that had an application been submitted it is likely that it would have been approved”.
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Pound Nears Completion – August 2019
All the stone work is now complete and to ensure none was wasted, the left-over stone has
been used to create a ground platform for a bench overlooking the field and a circular floor
on which a picnic table now stands. With the new seating installed positive feed-back has
been received from numerous residents and visitors accessing the Cross Bucks Way.
At the same time, with the permission of the landowners, we have improved access to the
footpath between the two fields at the start of the Bucks Way and on the opposite side of
the road at the rear of the church by replacing stiles with gates into the fields.
The information panel together with another notice board will be installed in September
and following this an opening will take place at the end of the month, most likely on
Saturday 28th at noon, at which point a couple of fruit trees and other plantings together
with seeding over winter will take place. The specific location and construction of the stocks
is still under discussion.
Now the work is substantially complete we hope that all village residents will appreciate
how the new community space might look when fully mature. Stratton Audley’s application
was only one of two approved in the Cherwell area, and the only one of its type. The work
was carried out under Permitted Development Rights in a record time with the support and
the approval of Cherwell District Council.
