Christ Church College is pushing development plans to build houses that are 'not practical for an affordable housing scheme' in a location that is both Green Belt and a Conservation Area. Binsey was where Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland, Gerald Manley Hopkins wrote about the Binsey Poplars and a historic site of pilgrimage for St Frideswide, patron saint of Oxford.
The new houses, in this tiny and historic hamlet would be for sale, in contrast to the 15 existing houses (some Grade II listed) which have always been rented out to tenants. The new houses would have garage space for over 2 cars each, with tarmac entrances where there is currently garden and agricultural land. Christ Church claims the new development would enhance the existing community. We (Binsey Residents Association) believe it would do the opposite.
The whole village is protesting, but as tenants and not owners we have little political clout. The development plans are illogical and contradictory, but although they have been turned down by the City Council with advice from the Environment Agency, Christ Church persists in trying to turn this village into another commuter zone.
WE ONLY HAVE UNTIL 27 APRIL 2004 TO REGISTER OUR VIEWS.
It all depends on flooding. The grounds for refusal were that the development would put additional households at risk of flooding, thus placing a further burden on the emergency services. In December 2001 and January 2003, Binsey was cut off by the floods. West Oxford residents will remember this all too well. There were many real and hidden dangers. The emergency services, were needed in both these floods (we had three separate medical emergencies). Ambulances could not get to us; the fire service tried and failed.
Christ Church's solutions for dealing with this include building a mile-long causeway the length of Binsey lane. This causeway will be up to a metre high, will be a danger to traffic, will be obtrusive and will disrupt the flow of floodwater. This seems mad.