The Barton development is an innovative, multi-million pound initiative to create a new neighbourhood and state-of-the-art community facilities to the west of Barton. The proposed site between Barton and Northway, to the north of the ring-road, provides an opportunity to deliver much-needed housing for Oxford - around 1,000 homes.
The development also offers a chance to secure benefits for residents in neighbouring communities; local amenities and public transport could be improved, an influx of new residents could drive the local economy and attract new businesses, and links could be created to integrate residents to the north of the A40 with the rest of Oxford.
This exciting development, led by Oxford City Council with the support of Oxfordshire County Council and the Homes and Communities Agency, is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a new Oxford neighbourhood.
The name of this neighbourhood and indeed the scale, design and timescales of the project are yet to be determined, and the Council hopes everyone with an interest in the future of the area - from local residents and community groups to businesses and service-providers - will take the opportunity to contribute their views.
Have Your Say
Oxford City Council is preparing an Area Action Plan (AAP) to guide future development and change associated with the new neighbourhood at Barton. We are now at the third stage in producing the AAP, known as the 'Proposed Submission' stage.
Consultation on this final draft of the AAP was held from February 10 to March 23, 2012. The below documents provide a summary of this stage of the AAP process along with the Proposed Submission document itself. For further technical and financial studies please see the Barton AAP page.
Barton AAP Proposed Submission Summary Leaflet (1.3MB PDF)
Barton AAP Proposed Submission (Feb 2012) (MB PDF)
Next steps
All comments received by 23 March 2012 as part of the Proposed Submission consultation have now been recorded. These were submitted on 13 April 2012, along with the AAP document, to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Further information about the examination process and where you can view the documentation is available on our Examination page.
The Secretary of State will now appoint an independent Planning Inspector who will hold an examination of the AAP in summer 2012. The Inspector will decide on the key issues resulting from the consultation and will set the questions to be discussed at the examination. The Inspector will also invite organisations and individuals to attend based on the comments made during this consultation.
At the end of the examination the Planning Inspector will prepare a report for the City Council. The report may propose that amendments are made to the AAP before it is finalised (or 'adopted') late in 2012. If you would like to be kept informed of progress on the AAP you can register for updates by joining our consultation database: just tick that you are interested in 'Planning & Regeneration'.
Previous consultation
There have been two previous stages of consultation in drafting the AAP document. In summer 2011 we consulted for a six-week period on a series of 'Preferred Options'. The response from the local community was very encouraging and has strongly influenced the plans as they are now. See below for details of the feedback received:
- 400 completed questionnaires
- over 50 letters and other written submissions, from stakeholders, local residents and residents' groups
- around 250 people at four drop-in sessions held in Old Marston, Northway, Barton and Old Headington
- a stakeholder briefing attended by around 30 participants
- a petition with 400 plus signatures from the Ruskin Fields Group
- a petition with 300 plus signatures requesting that the Barton Nature Park be saved
- a petition with 14 signatures in favour of housing on Ruskin Fields
- a petition with over 1500 signatures against private vehicles rat-running in Northway
- Interaction with around 300 Twitter and 950 Facebook followers
Of those responding to the questionnaire, the highest percentage of respondents (24%) came from Barton. Together with Old Headington (23%), these two areas accounted for nearly half of all the questionnaire responses we received. 13% of the questionnaire responses came from addresses in Northway.
Download the documentation for this consultation below:
Barton AAP Preferred Options Consultation Document (14MB PDF)
The previous round of consultation took place in 2010 and focused on the issues raised by the planned development. Residents came to a series of exhibitions and we received over 160 written responses.
The main messages we received were:
- broad support for what the Area Action Plan is seeking to achieve
- strong support for family housing, affordable homes and housing for older people
- a need to improve transport links, especially bus services and access to the A40
- strong support for new shops, leisure and play facilities, a primary school, health services and a community centre
- a need for improved green spaces
Download a summary of this consultation below:
Issues Document - Public Consultation Report (2.7MB PDF)
Development Partner
Oxford City Council launched the selection process for a joint venture partner in November 2010 to help deliver the new neighbourhood at Barton. More than 20 bids were received from a mix of parties which included high calibre developers, investors and construction companies.
The Council formed a joint venture with its preferred bidder, Grosvenor Developments Limited, on 31 October 2011. The innovative partnership combines the Council's land and vision for the site with Grosvenor's funding capacity and expertise.
The project team, made up of equal representation from Grosvenor and the Council, is now working together to look at master planning, community facilities, design and access.
Timeline
| Stage |
Date |
| Consult on Issues Document & Sustainability Appraisal (SA) Scoping |
June - July 2010 |
| Issues consultation report published |
Sept 2010 |
| Publish Preferred Options Document & Draft SA report |
Early May 2011 |
| Headington Festival |
5 June 2011 |
| Preferred Options consultation |
13 May - 24 June 2011 |
| Public drop-in session, Mortimer Hall, Old Marston |
7 June, 3:30pm - 6:00pm
|
Public drop-in session, Barton Neighbourhood Centre
|
9 June, 4:30pm - 7:30pm
|
Public drop-in session, Northway Community Centre
|
13 June, 4:30pm - 7:00pm
|
Public drop-in session, Headington Baptist Church
|
15 June, 4:30pm - 7:30pm
|
| Publish Proposed Submission Document & Final SA report |
Feb 2012
|
| Consult on Proposed Submission Document & Final SA report |
Feb - Mar 2012 |
| Submit the Area Action Plan to the Secretary of State |
April 2012 |
| Public engagement and consultation |
July 2012 |
| Independent Examination in Public |
July 2012 |
| Adopt Barton Area Action Plan |
December 2012 |
| Proposed site start |
2013 |
News
You can read more about the Barton project in the press releases and media coverage below:
Follow us on Twitter
Keep up-to-date with all the news on the new development by following Barton Oxford on Twitter or finding us on Facebook.
Page last reviewed 15 June 2012
