Town Council update

Timber frame design sketch for Beacon Project by Oxford Design Studio, 2014

It has been nearly two years since the Beacon Project last updated Charlbury Town Council about progress, so on Wed 16 April Beacon Secretary Chris Morton addressed councillors ahead of the scheduled council meeting. 

The key points made to councillors were that the last two years have involved a considerable amount of community consultation and profile-raising, including:

• sending a detailed response to the consultations over the draft West Oxfordshire Local Plan in December 2012. The draft Local Plan recognizes self-build and environmental sustainability as key aspects of the UK National Planning Policy Framework and the Localism Act. Our response is detailed here.
• publishing an article on the aims and objectives of the project in the April 2013 edition of the Charlbury Chronicle, and gaining some good feedback and expressions of interest locally.
• having an information stand at the Community Led Plan public meeting in July 2013 in the Memorial Hall
• pursuing options over the Forest Road site with Cornbury Park; contributing towards the Community Led Plan; keeping a conversation going with Sovereign Housing as an affordable housing partner; opened up the core management group to new local families

The councillors were informed that the project has so far undertaken three years’ work towards its aims and objectives, that we are an organised community group with a limited company structure and directors. 

Whilst the project has shifted its emphasis slightly over that period from an interest in co-housing towards self-build, it remains committed to bringing a more cooperative style to any new housing development in which we are involved.

Councillors were also informed that self-build is now a recognised means of solving some sections of the housing requirement, particularly in rural areas. This was recognised in the current West Oxfordshire Local Development Framework.

An example of the project's commitment to environmental issues relating to development can be found in the groups proposals for the Forest Road site in Charlbury, in which we are in negotiation with Cornbury Park regarding feasibility. On this site we are interested in:

• harvesting natural spring water which rises in the copse above the field. It was estimated in the summer of 2012 as providing 40-50 litres/minute or 50-60,000 litres/day.
• Towards the bottom of the site we would like to extend the current pond to offset the increased run-off of water from construction and housing (important following the recent floods) as well as a reed-bed for waste management. Despite being next to the sewage works, we won’t need it!
• We are also discussing with Cornbury the potential of a combined heat and power unit for the whole site using wood by-products from the Estate.

One of the key points made to the councillors was 'who is Beacon Project for?' The points made here were that:

• Currently several Charlbury families make the core, several of who have rented in Charlbury for more than 5 years because they cannot afford appropriate family sized homes. We all have children in the primary and secondary schools and between us make a big contribution to local societies and the community in general. 
• We are a group from the (politician’s phrase) squeezed middle – an intermediate group who cannot afford to buy suitable housing in Charlbury, but who can afford private sector rents. We are a growing group nationally.

Why is the project important?

• If housing development is to take place in Charlbury at all (and it should if we are to remain vibrant), then it is better that we empower people who already contribute to the community to build houses so that they can stay here, rather than being forced to move out. Any other development of family homes in Charlbury will be sold at the rapidly inflating prices that we see today and not contribute to keeping a diverse socio-economic mix in the town.
• New housing here should reflect the special interest in environmental sustainability that Charlbury is known for, rather than being imposed on the town by developers who have no interest in the character of the town, beyond a superficial stereotype of what colour stone to use.
• We feel that a creative and environmental approach to local housing like the scheme we have developed will enable us to develop a Neighbourhood Plan that doesn’t just say where new housing might go, but also says what it should feel like as an extension of our current community, and how it will affect our local environment.