Links to the results of the recent survey can be found below 1) a short report, and 2) the comments that people wrote on the survey form.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
As a reminder, the starting point for the Survey is the fact that Iffley has three proposals for development/redevelopment at present: Court Place, the Horse Fields and Iffley Mead. If all three go ahead, this will be an additional 180 or so houses with concomitant effects on traffic, infrastructure and so on – issues which showed in the Survey as key concerns for local people.
FOIV are not objecting to Court Place or Iffley Mead, and indeed are actively engaging with the Council and developers to secure as good an outcome as we can. However, we are objecting to the Horse Fields’ proposed development, while also having engagement with OCHL. The fields were allocated for 29+ houses in the Local Plan 2036. As they lie in the Iffley Conservation Area, FOIV has a clear responsibility from its Constitution:
The purposes of the organisation are: conservation of the essential character of Iffley village and its Conservation Area for the benefit of its residents, businesses and visitors…
On a related point, whilst the Council has promised there are currently no plans to develop the Memorial Field, we are concerned that this may be overturned in the future.
We wish to see a thriving village and more links with Rose Hill through keeping these last green spaces as a public resource, free from buildings.
There are other places to build in Oxford – some 430 acres of brownfield sites, but greenfield sites are cheaper to develop and therefore more attractive.
With these points in mind, we devised the survey and publicised it widely to try and find out what FOIV members think on these issues.
The survey was sent to FOIV members including renewed members, and we are delighted that the membership has increased to 361.
187 completed forms were returned – that’s 52%, which is an excellent response.
However, we need to be aware that this is ‘only’ 187 out of a) the 361 current members and b) out of the whole non-FOIV membership of the wider village/area.
Also, that people who took the time to respond are more motivated to act and respond, either for or against the statements in the survey.
Whilst we don’t know precisely what others in the village and local area think, in general people who know the fields and use Meadow Lane are concerned to protect the fields as green space with public access and Meadow Lane as a quiet route for active travel.
At previous meetings, the committee discussed and agreed the need to hire consultants who can give expert advice in regard to the proposals for the Horse Fields.
Again referring to FOIV’s Constitution, in accordance with the Purposes of the organisation outlined above:
(2) The Committee shall make and carry out decisions in accordance with the purposes of the organisation. For the avoidance of doubt, it has the power to:
i. Raise funds, receive grants and donations and levy subscriptions;
ii. Apply funds to carry out the work of the organisation;
iii. Co-operate with and support other organisations with similar purposes.
And finally – regarding donations – I would like formally to thank Peggy for kindly donating her time for the musical interlude at our FOIV event on 4th September.
Many thanks to Kate, Caroline, Katrina, Rachel and Ian for all their work on the Survey; to Emily for organising the shop box and to Martin Lister for organising the survey deliveries, and to all the others who helped.