Welcome to the website for the village of Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire, England. Within these pages you will find information on the village, the Parish Council and its activities, a directory of local businesses and services, information on clubs and groups, and lots of other things too.
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A team of consultants has slammed proposals for a huge sand and gravel quarry between Clifton Hampden and Culham. The company was drafted in by Oxfordshire County Council to assess the likely impact a quarry would have on the landscape.
In a wide-ranging report Adams Habermehl of Sutton Courtenay says: “With overview of the project and assessment process it appears highly likely that the proposals will lead to significant adverse landscape and visual effects over an extended period, leading to major and unacceptable impacts.”
“In the meantime and to the extent that the scheme could not be supported or accommodated on landscape grounds we propose continuing an ‘in principle’ landscape objection to the application scheme.”
There is widespread opposition to the quarry led by Bachport – Burcot & Clifton Hampden for the Protection of the River Thames – whose spokesman Giles Baxter said: “We have always maintained that the quarry will have an unacceptable impact on a beautiful section of the River Thames within the Oxford Green Belt. Better alternative sites with limited impact on the landscape are available”.
In a further development, the quarry company have refused access for a world renowned tree expert to survey up to 40 trees that may warrant special consideration under National Planning Policy.
Mr Baxter said: “This is yet another instance of the applicant demonstrating their preparedness to dig first and ask questions afterwards, rather than, as national policy requires, identify features of the landscape that have special significance and plan their scheme around them”.
It was hoped that the county council’s planning committee would discuss the quarry application from Hills Quarry Products at its September meeting. But now because of the amount of new information which has to be collated it’s likely that the issue won’t be discussed by the committee until October or November.
Historic England, the public body tasked with protecting England’s historic environment, has objected to a scheme which seeks to build a new link road and river crossing linking Didcot to the Culham Science Centre. The road, estimated to cost £125m, is a key part of South Oxfordshire District Council’s Local Plan which proposes a large scale housing development near the science centre.
One of two suggested routes for the road would cut through part of the site for a huge quarry on land between Culham and Clifton Hampden and that could have implications for the quarry. Oxfordshire County Council’s planning committee is expected to discuss the issue next month. Continue reading
Is the end of the road in sight for Long Wittenham’s controversial road humps? Removing humps from traffic calming schemes is being considered by the government in the drive to reduce growing pollution levels and they are being considered by Oxfordshire County Council.
The government is promising councils £255m to remove speed humps, change road layouts and boost public transport. Draft proposals have to be published by next spring. The chairman of Long Wittenham Parish Council Gordon Rogers wrote to Yvonne Constance the cabinet member responsible for transport about the county’s approach.
Mrs Constance said removing humps would be considered but there were many Continue reading
Join the Wittenham Singers and the Wittenham Poetry Club for an evening of songs, poems and readings on Sunday 13th August from 4pm in Bryan and Angela Humphris’ lovely riverside garden – Cruckfield, High Street, Long Wittenham.
Everyone is welcome. Teas provided. Bring a picnic if you like.
There will be a collection box for funds for a new toilet at St Mary’s Church.
Call 01865 407476 for more details. Continue reading
Plans for a new cycle path between Long Wittenham, Clifton Hampden and the Culham Science Centre should be ready for discussion by the end of the year.
It’s part of a network of cycle-ways linking the Vale Science area at Harwell, Milton Park, Didcot and Culham. Nearly £5m of county council funding has been put aside with the aim of encouraging more people to get out of their cars and cycle to work.
The Didcot-Culham link would use the existing cycle path from Didcot to Long Wittenham but after the village the proposed scheme runs into engineering challenges and land issues. Continue reading
A bid by four parish councils, including Long Wittenham, to seek an extension to consultations over the Didcot Garden Town plan has failed. The move follows calls from Didcot Town Council for an extension of the deadline which closed on 31st July.
Appleford, Clifton Hampden, Culham and Long Wittenham Parish Councils asked South Oxfordshire District Council for more time to consider the plans. They accused the district council of a lack of meaningful engagement over the £620m government-funded plan which will transform Didcot and neighbouring communities.
The clerk to Appleford and Clifton Hampden Parish Councils Anne Davies said: “I am not Continue reading
A message from Earth Trust.
Earth Trust has an amazing site right on your doorstep – 500 hectares of grassland, arable and woodland, including the Wittenham Clumps, Neptune Wood and the River of Life.
One of the reasons the site is so special is because it’s managed so that its good for people, for wildlife and for farming, but this doesn’t come without its issues.
Whilst dogs which are managed responsibly have little adverse impact on the site, badly managed dogs can severely impact upon wildlife, other people and the success of farming operations. Continue reading
The permissive footpath through the Earth Trust meadow near Neptune Wood will be closed for approximately six weeks from Monday 7th August.
This meadow supports an abundance of wildflowers and associated wildlife; grazing with sheep and cattle at certain times of year, including late summer, is essential for maintaining the populations of wildflowers.
In the past there has unfortunately been a number of dog attacks on sheep whilst they have been grazing in this field; therefore the footpath will be closed whilst the sheep are grazing here. Continue reading
The formal notice of the inquiry into the Kler Group’s plans for 36 houses on the field at the corner of the Ddicot Road and Fieldside has been published and can be viewed or downloaded here:
www.longwittenham.com/wp-content/uploads/Misc_Docs/20170803_Notice_of_Kler_Public_Inquiry.pdf
For more information about the appeal or if anyone wishes to address the public inquiry please contact Steve Brown at longwitt@hotmail.com.
Come along for an evening of wine tasting and general hilarity. Yes, it’s the long awaited return of Pour My Bluff to Long Wittenham.
Six wines tasted blind; three ‘experts’ trying to convince you that they know what each wine is – but only one of them will be telling the truth, the other two will be lying through their teeth! Are your taste buds good enough to identify the wine?!
Compered by Lesley-Anne Doveston, who will be known to many – ably supported by two other wine ‘experts’ from the village.
This event has always sold out in the past – so buy your ticket now to secure your place. It Continue reading
