OCLT held its first meeting with prospective tenants in Dean Court Community Centre on 27th September 2014. Sally Daniels who works with Askew Cavannagh architects came up from Bristol specially to describe the buildings and their distinctive features.

As many of you will know Oxfordshire Community Land Trust (OCLT) has recently received planning permission for six maisonettes for affordable rent: 2 x 2 bedrooms, 2x 1 bedroom and 2 studios in Dean Court. We are now moving forward to complete the design process and appoint contractors.

Oxfordshire Community Land Trust gained planning consent on Thursday evening (29/05) for its development off Eynsham Rd, Botley, of six apartments for affordable rent by local people priced out of the mainstream housing market.  

Following our planning application in October, we were advised by the Vale of White Horse to make some significant changes and to withdraw the original application and submit a new one.

After several months of discussion and meetings with planners, we have now submitted a new application. It is also for six units of 2 x 2 bedroomed flats and 4 x 1 bedroomed flats.  The footprint of the building is reduced so that it is further from neighbouring homes and reduces the overlooking of adjacent gardens.

Just in time to celebrate the tenth anniversary of our first meeting at which we decided to form Oxfordshire Community Land Trust, we have finally submitted our planning application for six apartments on land to the rear of Eynsham Rd in Botley, west of Oxford!

It seems to have taken an age and a great deal of hard work, especially on Fran's part, holding us all together and prodding us each to do our bit when needed, but we are now at the mercy of the planners and councillors who will make the decision.

The good news is that we have started the design process.

Cumnor Parish Council will be conducting a new housing survey over the coming months. This will be done by Oxfordshire Rural Communities Council. Within the survey OCLT have some questions to find out who might be interested in moving into the six affordable rental properties we have on our site. Please make sure you complete the survey and send it back and please also get in touch with us if you are interested in securing one of the homes which we hope will be available sometime in 2014.

OCLT in planning to participate in this one day event hosted by Sovereign Vale Housing Association. This will happen on the small green by the shop . Sovereign will be there with some front line staff (housing officer, surveyor, rents advisor) plus some others. So come along and talk to OCLT about our site and your ideas.

We are hoping to get more people involved in clearing the site, contributing to planning discussions and we are also looking for new members including board members.

Oxfordshire Community Land Trust attended the local Bike Day at fogwell on Saturday 14^th April. A blustery day (and it blew our house, aka gazebo, down) but we showed the designs to many of those who attended and a few people also expressed interest in getting involved in our work. See pic of one cyclist pedalling herself a healthful smoothie.

On Saturday March 24^th budding architects Will Gamble and Richard Fisher blew us away with some of their visions for homes on the site. This was done as a project with Civic architect Dan Jones (www.civic.org.uk) who some of you may know as he has done the design for the refurb of Dean Court Community Centre. See here for their ideas.

13 people came to look at the designs and discuss which one was the most appropriate for the site.