Claydon marina plan still heavily opposed

After receiving little enthusiasm the first time of asking, a revised plan for a Claydon marina has been submitted to Cherwell District Council.
New Claydon Marina plansNew Claydon Marina plans
New Claydon Marina plans

The original design called for 250 berths, a facilities building, yard area for boat maintenance and repair, new highways access, associated infrastructure such as car parking for 202 vehicles, cycle storage, footpaths, access roads and landscaping which includes the creation of a 2.16 hectare lake.

Opposition to the original plan included the additional traffic travelling through Claydon, the impact of that traffic on the countryside and the need for such a facility with both Fenny Compton and nearby Cropredy both having canal marinas.

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The new plans for the Glebe Farm development reduce the number of barge berths to 192, car park places now number 150 and the marina basin shrinks to 3.07 hectares. The lake remains unchanged at 2.16 hectares.

Submitted at the end of February the plans have received the same opposition as before and for the same reasons.

Claydon and Clattercote Parish Council held a village hall meeting about the plans on April 2 with almost two dozen residents raising concerns about the marina’s size. It is estimated to be three-quarters the size of the village and they say it will have a larger population than the village if operating at capacity.

Sylvia Ingram, chair of the parish council, said in a statement: “Claydon and Clattercote Parish Council will be responding to the amended plans. After a village meeting held last week, several points were raised – various objections.

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“These are being circulated to villagers unable to attend the meeting and all were advised to write in to CDC planning, with their objections.”

Adding to the residents’ concerns is the HS2 development which will bring construction vehicles to the area, serviced by numerous single track rural roads and two weight restricted bridges.

Additional HGV traffic would, residents fear, clog up the village and surrounding roads.

Other concerns include height of the walls to contain the marina, known as earth bunds, which will be seven metres tall and will have 6.7 metre tall buildings on top.

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Security and safety lighting was raised as Claydon has no street lighting, and one short pavement. The village also has no pub, shop or post office and is poorly served by public transport.

Cropredy, which recently had a marina built there is also concerned about the extra demands on its resources the new marina could have.

In a complaint mirroring their concerns during the first consultation process, Cropredy surgery GP Dr Barry Tucker said: “I wish to express our objection to the provision of a new marina within our practice area, currently our practice list is closed due to extreme pressures of workload.

“Our experience has been that a marina within the area does put increased workload pressures on the practice, even if the marina is non-residential it makes no difference as people can and will still register at this surgery when our list reopens, also, many of these people are retired with complex health issues.

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“I also feel that local amenities and bus services are not keyed up to deal with an influx of people, especially those requiring public transport.”

The new plans, reference number 18/00904/F, can be seen on CDC’s planning web page.