The Local Plan 2035 against which we have fought since 2017 was adopted on 10 December 2020. Some of the information and links are now out of date.
South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) and the Vale of White Horse (Vale) have produced a new Joint Local Plan 2041. Consultation on this stage of the Plan closes at 2359 hrs on Monday 26 February 2024.
The Plan still proposes 3500 houses in Culham, the largest strategic site in either district.
Please see the update page for the most up to date information.
About Us
Save Culham Green Belt is a campaign committee of Culham Parish Council.
We are all residents of Culham, a charming and peaceful Oxfordshire village bordering the Thames; a small village of just 450 inhabitants that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times.
You can find out more about this video here.
Our Green Belt Is Threatened
Our rural life, and that of other nearby communities, is under threat from South Oxfordshire District Council’s plan to take 301 hectares out of Green Belt protection and build a massive new town and urbanisation within our Parish and overlapping the Parish of Clifton Hampden.
Drone photo of area
SODC Propose A New Town
SODC want to build 3,500 houses – resulting in a POPULATION of 8750 -10500 – a new town LARGER THAN WALLINGFORD (7542 at 2011 census). Click here for summary of SODC plan and maps.
Contrary To Government Policy
This is absolutely contrary to National planning policy. The Government’s recent (Feb 2017) White Paper on housing reiterates policies already in force stating:
Our Manifesto reiterated our commitment to protecting Green Belt. The National Planning Policy Framework is already clear that Green Belt boundaries should be amended only “in exceptional circumstances”’.
‘We propose to amend and add to national policy to make clear that: Authorities should amend Green Belt only when they can demonstrate that they have examined fully all other reasonable options’
Click here for more detailed information on Government policy relating to Green Belt.
Loss Of Green Belt Means Loss Of Green Lungs And Recreation Amenities
Culham’s precious Green Belt provides protection for the countryside between Oxford and Abingdon and is primarily used for agricultural and recreational activities.
Site Of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Threatened
The development of this area threatens not only the countryside but a statutory protected Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a woodland called Culham Brake, home to a rare and threatened plant called the ‘Summer Snowflake’. The area, bordering the Thames and the Green Belt Way provides varied outdoor recreation for thousands of people and an essential green lung for the area close to Oxford City Centre. Click here Natural England’s citation for this SSSI. Find out more…
Culham resident and botanical illustrator Val Price has drawn this beautiful image of the Summer Snowflake especially for our campaign website.
A ‘Dormitory’ Town
SODC have alternative sites for meeting their housing needs including on brownfield land (and on greenfield land outside Green Belt) which they are choosing to ignore. Instead they are pushing forward a massive urbanisation of Green Belt in Culham where there is no established need for housing and in an area isolated from all the facilities and services a population of this number would need. The attraction is the tiny Culham Railway station which would result in a development here being a dormitory town for commuters to Reading and London.
Campaign For The Protection Of Rural England Support Us
The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) support us. The Oxford Green Belt was only formally designated in 1955 – just over 60 years ago – and designed to be permanently protected for the foreseeable future.
Our Duty To Future Generations
It is our duty, as ‘caretakers’ to protect this green and pleasant land for the future, our children and our children’s children. Please join our campaign and help us stop the juggernaut of development.
Click here to find out ways you can help.
