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The development
Five companies, working together as the North Witney Consortium, want to build up to 1,250 houses on the fields between Woodstock Road, New Yatt Road and Hailey Road — linked by a new road, the West End Link, across the river Windrush floodplain. The land is in Hailey Parish, on the northern edge of Witney. First promised in 2009. Contested by residents ever since.
The land
- The site "stretches from Woodstock Road, across the top of New Yatt Road, and all the way to Hailey Road"
- Allocated in the 2031 Local Plan for up to 1,400 homes (Policy WIT2); the current application proposes 1,250
- The NWSDA "is actually situated in Hailey Parish and only runs along the border with Witney"
- A network of footpaths crosses the land, with views over Witney and the surrounding countryside
The consortium
The North Witney Consortium comprises:
- Blenheim Strategic Partners
- Cranbrook Construction Limited
- Gleeson Land Limited
- L&Q Estates Limited
- Taylor Wimpey UK Ltd.
- Plus A2 Dominion — owners of Parcel 3, whose KC told the 2024 planning appeal that A2 Dominion "do not communicate" with those who control Parcels 1 & 2
At the January 2024 appeal, Turley — land agents for Parcels 1 & 2 — confirmed there is "no Equalisation Agreement (legal entity) between the five separate developers". The Inspector's July 2024 determination dismissed the appeal: as an SDA, the site must be considered by WODC together in one Masterplan. Fragmentation is not new — Taylor Wimpey tried twice, in 2017 and 2019, to move forward singularly as owners of Parcel 2.
The road — WEL2
A key part of the plan is the West End Link Road (WEL2), which "stretches from the roundabout at the bottom of Hailey Road, across the river Windrush (built on the flood plain floor) and joining at the traffic lights on Mill Street/Woodford Way".
- 2009 — the Consortium's leaflet promised to "fund in full" the West End Link, affordable housing, bus services, a primary school, community centre and doctors' surgery
- 2018 — the Government Inspector ratified that the road "will be required for the full development", funded by the developers
- Today — the developer is increasingly unwilling to fund WEL2, promoting Active Travel in its place
- Thames Water has informed the developers they can "build the homes but not occupy them" — because of sewage disposal and potable water supply
The plan
West Oxfordshire District Council must submit a long-term, 15-year Local Plan to the Government's Planning Inspectorate. The current 2031 Local Plan was adopted in September 2018 and includes the North Witney SDA. Having a sustainable and robust Local Plan ensures that speculative developments are easily and successfully rejected; in NWAG's opinion, the North Witney SDA is neither sustainable nor robust — as the ongoing delays and issues show. The plan was reviewed in 2022 and is being superseded by the new 2041/2043 Plan; NWAG's December 2025 response argues the NWSDA should be removed from it.