The Harbord Road Area

Harbord Road Area Residents’ Association (HRARA) became involved in the Cherwell District Council Local Plan in 2017 when it became apparent that the locations likely to be selected for 4,400 homes (which were planned solely to meet Oxford’s claimed unmet need) would have a devastating impact on the extensive views from Cutteslowe Park over the Cherwell Valley and would also destroy the historic Kidlington Gap including the North Oxford Golf Course. On a wider scale there was concern not only about Oxford extending in an urban sprawl from North Oxford to Kidlington but also about the coalescence of Kidlington with the villages of Begbroke and Yarnton. The 500 homes proposed for Woodstock were in addition to hundreds of other homes put forward in the West Oxfordshire District Council Local Plan and were considered to be damaging to the World Heritage Site of Blenheim Palace.

HRARA joined forces with other members of Cherwell Development Watch Alliance - CDWA in June 2018 and since then the Alliance has actively opposed both the Cherwell and Oxford Local Plans. Our opposition has encompassed Oxford’s claimed unmet need, transport (including the planned closure of Sandy Lane), sustainability concerns and the preservation of the local areas of the Oxford Green Belt. We have also exposed the intention of the University, Christ Church College and Merton College to retain much of the affordable housing for their own use – something which is not stated in any of the hundreds of pages of the Cherwell Local Plan.

The current government, in its 2019 election manifesto, stated that it ‘would protect and enhance the Green Belt’. There certainly hasn’t been much sign of that happening in Oxfordshire.

Cherwell's proposed urbanisation of the Green Belt threatens a uniquely special gateway to the historic city of Oxford. The area known as the 'Kidlington Gap' lies mostly in the extremely rural Gosford and Water Eaton Parish. The setting of Cutteslowe park - one of Oxford's gems and surely amongst the most beautiful in the country - will be damaged irreparably. The proposals will see the loss of the immaculate and wooded North Oxford Golf Club.

Residents are capturing images of the Area in it's current unspoiled state. If you have others you would like to contribute to this collection HRARA would love to hear from you.

Cutteslowe Park and the neighbouring North Oxford Golf Course

Click on the photo for a description.

The Cherwell Local Plan allocates land to the north of Cutteslowe Park for housing and this view across the cricket pitch will be urbanised and lost forever.

The view across the Cherwell Valley north west from Cutteslowe Park

As well as being part of the historic Kidlington Gap which maintains the separation between Oxford and Kidlington, the 113 year old North Oxford Golf Courseis a green lung in an increasingly urban area. It acts as a buffer to the City' noise & pollution.

These are just some of the hundreds of mature trees that will be destroyed if Oxford University's plans to develop the golf course are approved.