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Construction News
23/09/2008
Unpaid Bill Angers Council In Eco-Town Row
Oxfordshire County Council is refusing to do any more work on 'fairytale' proposals for an eco-town at Weston Otmoor until developers cough up more than £100,000 for work done so far that they originally promised to pay for.
According to Oxfordshire Council, Parkridge had promised that they would pay for detailed work that has had to take place on the transport implications of plans to build 15,000 homes near Weston-on-the-Green.
However, they now appear to have gone back on that promise, meaning money that could have been spent on projects to improve roads and public transport in the county could be lost.
Leader of the Council, Councillor Keith Mitchell, said: "These developers have been shifting the goalposts on an almost weekly basis. As one set of pie-in-the-sky fairytale plans is shown to be a superficial sham, another appears - and proves to be equally appalling.
"Whenever large or small housing schemes are proposed, it is our job as Oxfordshire's transport authority to manage impacts so that the best interests of the county are protected. That includes things such as public transport needs, and the effect on the current road network including the A34, M40 and smaller roads.
"The developers said at the outset that they would pay for the huge amount of work undertaken on their behalf to analyse the details of this proposal to build a brand new town. Having made that promise, we were stunned to hear that they have gone back on it. The bill currently stands at more than £100,000.
"Parkridge seems to have more newly updated sets of plans to throw around than most people have hot dinners. Their chaotic approach creates spiralling work and costs in terms of time as well as money for ourselves and Cherwell District Council. Nobody in Oxfordshire asked for this proposal. It has been imposed and is now threatening to take huge chunks out of the local public purse. It is perverse and wrong."
He continued: "We need to be quite clear that Oxfordshire County Council is not against job creation, as the developers have tried to intimate. However, we want to see properly planned and realistic job creation. We are actively supporting major new economic development at Bicester, which could bring huge benefits to people there. 'Wotmoor', as Private Eye has dubbed it, threatens that."
(CD/JM)
According to Oxfordshire Council, Parkridge had promised that they would pay for detailed work that has had to take place on the transport implications of plans to build 15,000 homes near Weston-on-the-Green.
However, they now appear to have gone back on that promise, meaning money that could have been spent on projects to improve roads and public transport in the county could be lost.
Leader of the Council, Councillor Keith Mitchell, said: "These developers have been shifting the goalposts on an almost weekly basis. As one set of pie-in-the-sky fairytale plans is shown to be a superficial sham, another appears - and proves to be equally appalling.
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"Whenever large or small housing schemes are proposed, it is our job as Oxfordshire's transport authority to manage impacts so that the best interests of the county are protected. That includes things such as public transport needs, and the effect on the current road network including the A34, M40 and smaller roads.
"The developers said at the outset that they would pay for the huge amount of work undertaken on their behalf to analyse the details of this proposal to build a brand new town. Having made that promise, we were stunned to hear that they have gone back on it. The bill currently stands at more than £100,000.
"Parkridge seems to have more newly updated sets of plans to throw around than most people have hot dinners. Their chaotic approach creates spiralling work and costs in terms of time as well as money for ourselves and Cherwell District Council. Nobody in Oxfordshire asked for this proposal. It has been imposed and is now threatening to take huge chunks out of the local public purse. It is perverse and wrong."
He continued: "We need to be quite clear that Oxfordshire County Council is not against job creation, as the developers have tried to intimate. However, we want to see properly planned and realistic job creation. We are actively supporting major new economic development at Bicester, which could bring huge benefits to people there. 'Wotmoor', as Private Eye has dubbed it, threatens that."
(CD/JM)
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