Sir – Woodstock residents and others who care about this ancient town have less than a week left in which to make their views known on the planning application for ‘Woodstock East’ — 1,500 new homes and ancillary development on the edge of this ancient town.

 

As The Oxford Times has reported, this development would double the size of the town and include an out-of-town supermarket. Currently Woodstock town centre includes everything for residents — an excellent Co-op mini supermarket, newsagent, bread shop, deli, ironmonger, dry cleaner/newsagent, post office, pharmacy, optician, flower shop, card shop, three hairdressers, a barber, bookshop, bank, wine shop, funeral parlour etc etc. A new out-of-town supermarket would be death to these.

 

Visit any town around the country where a supermarket has been built on the outskirts and you find a town with few useful shops for residents — Old Amersham in Bucks is a local example.

 

Traffic would be a nightmare. Already rush-hour traffic is nose to tail on the A44 from Woodstock to Oxford. Many motorists from Witney use the route to avoid the A40.

 

Several thousand more houses are due to be built in Witney, adding to the burden. Add the extra Woodstock East traffic (approx. 2,500 cars) to the numbers generated by the extra homes proposed by the same developer in Long Hanborough, the 50,000 sq ft of employment space granted in Begbroke and the 500 homes, 180-bed hotel and business park at the Northern Gateway. It makes for an impossible scenario. Doubling the size of an already sustainable community is excessive overdevelopment.

 

Letters have to be with Cherwell District Council by January 29. Every letter counts for the future of this beautiful town.

 

Christine Lea, Woodstock