Was our trust in the town plan ‘all in vain’?

Dear Editor, I am grateful to the East Thame Residents’ Association for its July Newsletter about the current consultation on additional housing in South Oxfordshire, which ends on July 23, and, as I understand it, could supersede all the co-operation and effort and agreements which went into our own Neighbourhood Plan.

I note that the East Thame Residents’ Association says it is regrettable that our own Plan has been challenged by this, and adds: ‘It has always been the fact, however, that SODC, as the ultimate planning authority, could amend the housing figures in the plan. The Neighbourhood Plan is a barrier but ultimately a moral one only.’  It calls for support for our Town Council in defending Thame’s character.

I wonder what the hundreds of residents who took part in good faith in the original consultations would have thought if they had been told point blank and openly at the start that all their efforts might make, in fact, not a bit of practical difference.

I’m pretty sure some of us suspected as much – at all levels of our local participation – but still gave the process the benefit of the doubt.

Our trust, it seems, was in vain.

Norman Brand
Thame