Oxford fit to burst

Excellent meeting last night of various residents groups from Headington and East Oxford at the town hall. Must have been a couple of hundred there, and a lot of energy for getting a grip on future planning of Oxford.

The second half saw the four parliamentary candidates for Oxford East doing an 'Any Questions'. Green Party candidate Sushila Dhall was the only one to consistently draw a round of applause. She clearly had her finger on the pulse and the local knowledge. The Lib Dem candidate wasn't even aware that the city council had area committees that had planning powers.

There was a strong sense in the meeting that Oxford is suffering from regional and national planning decisions, taken remotely, requiring Oxford to grow : 'growth at all costs' and that this is now putting intolerable strains on the city, its housing, its green spaces, its transport infrastructure and is in danger of destroying its neighbourhood communities.

The biggest round of applause Sushila got was when she pointed out that the 'brownfield sites' that other candidates had suggested should be developed for housing are instead being developed for commercial use with the support of all the other parties. She was referring specifically to the currently-stalled Westgate development, a massive and unneeded shopping centre in area that was formerly affordable housing.