BATTLE OF HEYTHROP WILL BE ON 6th OCTOBER

The WODC Uplands Planning Committee will need to be on their best form
to resolve this one!   Its impossible to do proper justice to the arguments but here's a flavour........

In 1999 Firoz Kassam purchased Heythrop Park for £15 million with the vision of turning it into a five star resort. £20 million has been spent so far and the total investment is likely to be in the region of almost £37 million.  A Planning Application to extend the present 9-hole golf course to an 18-hole course has been in since September 2001. The management and landscaping proposals of this plan will cost £2 million with a another £2 million on the golf course.  Since then the proposal has developed, through continuous discussion with WODC  officers, into (according to the applicant) "a comprehensively managed landscape and restoration programme of the historic parkland". They go on to say..."We will return much of the landscape to its original form..... Alien trees will be removed and a faithful restoration to the original form is proposed. The proposal includes the return of 200 acres of arable land to parkland, restoration of key features in the historic landscape, such as the Cold Bath Terrace, the Bowling Green and Kite Grove Walk. Alien tree planting....will be removed and original planting features will be restored. The proposals are in accord with the Council’s Tourism Strategy and Policies. Our proposals will add up to 300 further jobs. The Council’s strategy can only be enhanced by the development of this resort at Heythrop Park. Oxfordshire does not have a quality resort of the type proposed". In April the WODC Head of Planning advised that subject to a satisfactory Management Plan the proposal could be recommended for approval

WODC Cultural Services (ie Tourism) say "I consider this application to be important to the changing needs of the local tourism market bringing with it significant local employment and inward investment to the surrounding and wider economy through the use by guest of ancillary leisure, retail and tourism facilities." Enstone Parish Council say "My Council are very much in favour of the above application and feel that it will be of significant benefit to the community and the environment."

The only fly in the ointment (but a very big one) is ENGLISH HERITAGE. Their view (in summary of a long document)  is that extension of golf will not contribute to or enhance the historic parkland – and in fact will damage its intrinsic significance and cultural value. English Heritage is of the view that there are alternative ways of exploiting the leisure opportunities of Heythrop that would indeed enhance the historic asset.....

To which the applicant responds... English Heritage are wrong and they should be overruled. They are going against the consultant that they recommended to us to use. Although they are important as a consultee they are not always right ......We cannot understand how they cannot see the benefits that are to arise.......It seems that they would rather maintain a damaged landscape without improvement rather than make a really positive decision to everyone’s benefit. It is not generally our policy to be rude about other bodies but we feel that they have not been consistent or straightforward throughout this process. English Heritage have always allowed for the economic viability approach to be considered as part of the application. We have submitted a detailed document indicating the effect of the improvement to the business and to tourism in general by the inclusion of a golf course to a country hotel.

 READ THE FULL PLANNING REPORT