The parents of former tennis star Tim Henman are spearheading the fight against plans to build a 15,000-home eco-town yards from their village (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2170431.0.henmans_spearhead_ecotown_protest.phpTony and Jane Henman and neighbours in Weston-on-the-Green, near Bicester, said they were outraged by a Government decision to shortlist the site for a potentially massive housing development.
They said the proposed town - called Weston Otmoor by developers Parkridge Holdings - would change their village beyond recognition if it was given the go-ahead.
But Government housing minister Caroline Flint said developments, such as the one proposed in Weston, would allow people less fortunate than the Henmans to climb the property ladder.
Weston Otmoor was put on the shortlist ahead of more than 40 other proposed eco-town locations - including Shipton Quarry in Oxfordshire.
In the autumn, after a public consultation, villagers will find out whether the scheme will be one of 10 submitted for planning permission.
Parkridge Holdings plans to build up to 15,000 zero-carbon homes, a new railway station, tram service and park-and-ride system, as well as new schools and libraries on the site next to the A34 and the Oxford to Bicester railway line.
The company said construction work could begin by 2010.
Mr Henman has formed the Weston Front Action Group and has set up a fighting fund.
Matt Jackson, head of biodiversity for the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, which owns some of the land earmarked for development, said building the eco-town could threaten rare plants and butterflies which had made the area their home.
The site is favoured because it is next to a railway line, which can take people in and out of Oxford in minutes.
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