The appeal by CALA Homes against the WODC decision to refuse planning permission for 68 houses on the Woodstock Road took place last week.

WODC and the combined Rule 6 party – SUSTO, Stonesfield Parish Council, and the Cotswolds AONB Conservation Board – put forward a very strong case against the appeal. Much of CALA’s evidence was risible, but then I would say that.
Unfortunately the four-day hearing wasn’t long enough for all the evidence to be heard, so there is an adjournment until 16 May. When the Inquiry is completed it will take the Inspector six to eight weeks to reach his final decision so we won’t know our fate until July.

Top photo is what the field looks like now, and below is what it could look like if they win – a CALA development in nearby Bampton. A field in the AONB lost forever. Vernacular architecture? – I don’t think so.

Richard Morris
Chair of Sustainable Stonesfield