OCC can’t answer Bertie Park speech

We talked to council on 26th January. OCC’s policy for Bertie Park says our recreation ground has to be re-provided. OCC always knew this was impossible:

The plan was out of date before it was agreed!

The planning application was submitted 2 1/2 years ago …

All this is such a waste of tax-payer money

Thames Valley Police are worried about crime, anti-social behaviour and community conflict if the development goes ahead:

Even the police think it’s a bad idea

Recent OCC policy says that, with the population growing, there is no spare pitch capacity:

Once our Multi Use Games Area is gone, it’s gone forever.

Cllr Hollingsworth said that this is a live planning application. But it has been a live planning application for 2 1/2 years. When we talk to council, we usually get an update. This time they said nothing:

Alex warns the planning committee to retain an open mind.

Cllr Hollingsworth says if Oxford wants to ask its neighbours to help meet its unmet housing need, it can’t start removing sites from the local plan.

We have to build on ….

But that unmet housing need is turbo-charged by new laboratories and hotels being built across the city. Maybe, just maybe, OCC should also think about the kind of Oxford it is building for ordinary working people, and leave a bit of space for kids to play.

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Thorny problem for Bertie Park

Bertie Park Recreation ground has a play area with 14 items of equipment. So, when the council’s first drawings showed only 4, we complained. They reassured us that there could be “as many as 9 items of equipment” in their new play area. We wondered how. Now we know!

The new plans show a toddler trail with 5 items of equipment, including 2 ‘boulders’ i.e. rocks. The toddler trail is hard up against the apartment block, and runs between some shrubs. But the police have pointed out that there should be a proper boundary between the play area and the apartment block garden. Instead of ornamental shrubs, they have suggested a thorny species instead. This could leave our young toddlers between a rock and a thorny place!

We will be talking to council again on 26 January. Watch this space!

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What the police say about Bertie Park

The MUGA and the play area are very close to homes. There are 2 problems with this:

  1. Street lighting will light up the play area and MUGA at night. This increases the risk of crime and antisocial behaviour.
  2. Noise from the MUGA is a recipe for “neighbour disturbances and community tension.”

OCC want to build a long, narrow footbridge between Bertie Park and the land behind Wytham Street (site B). There’ll be “no option for escape” if someone is “approached by a hostile actor.”

Site B “does not have any clear function or purpose, and significantly lacks surveillance.” This could make it “a significant attractor for crime and antisocial behaviour.” The current bridge has bars to prevent joyriding:

Read the full TVP report here: Police Report

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Bertie Park gives OCC a headache!

Thank you to all who took part in the recent consultation! In spite of the rain, we got 88 people to comment this time around. There are now 3 who support, and 357 objections to OCC’s plans for Bertie Park.

Any homes built on Bertie Park have to be safe from flooding now and in the future. So OCC want to raise the level of the land. But they cannot do ANYTHING that will raise the flood risk elsewhere. They can’t bring in rubble. They have to use material from on-site. So, they plan to dig out the new play area:

The problem is that Bertie Park is ex-landfill. The landfill is covered by a layer of soil. So, what are they going to use to raise up the land? The soil that covers the landfill? or the landfill? We’ve asked OCC. We also asked how deep the soil has to be on the parts of the excavated recreation ground to be grassed or planted? They didn’t have any answers.

The other problem is that all this digging will disturb the river bank. The Environment Agency says they’ll need a permit. Well, that will open up another can of worms!

Can of worms

Council forced to dig up MUGA

This October, Derbyshire residents took their parish council to court after problems with antisocial behaviour and noise from a MUGA (Multi Use Games Area). The Parish council was forced to dig up the MUGA. Article: Council demolishes play area after noise complaints. Sport England recommends 30 to 40 metres between MUGAs and homes to avoid exactly this sort of problem.

Mathew Barlow, Chapel in le Frith. BBC Derbyshire 6/10/2025

The MUGA on Bertie park is now 40 metres from homes. It is good for 5-a-side football and basketball. OCC want to replace it with a new MUGA; 4m shorter, and 11m from homes. Even normal behaviour is antisocial when it’s too close to homes. OCC says it will deal with potential problems by restricting hours when the MUGA can be used, and making sure there’s “a simple method to report noise complaints, damage and/or misuse.”

Will Oxford City Council be forced to dig up their new MUGA? It is more important than ever that young people have a place to let off steam! OCC are consulting now. The consultation ends on Sunday. Previous blog here with details of OCC’s plans. Click here to have your say (takes 5 mins).

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Bertie Park: they are consulting AGAIN … NOW!

OCC have started another consultation. We have until 30 November to comment. Bertie Park is part of our local history. It’s where our young people learn to be independent, where they go to let off steam. OCC want to shrink it down. The whole recreation ground will be less than twice the size of the current playground.

click to enlarge

The MUGA is 4 metres shorter, and 11m from homes. Kids can’t let off steam 11m from homes. There’s 2 picnic tables on a strip of grass sandwiched between playground, MUGA and the fence. The new playground is 10% smaller. But it’s got a slope called a bund to stop homes from flooding, disabled access to the MUGA, and 5 full-size trees to meet biodiversity targets. The surfaced play area is a fraction of the current playground. For teenagers there’ll be a small climbing frame and basket swing, and a rock and bowl. Can you spot the toddler-trail behind the benches on the plans below?

Click to enlarge

We will lose 86% of Bertie Park. OCC want to compensate with a 250m path on the land behind Wytham Street.

So, OCC want to build a grand bridge over the Redbridge Stream to give wheelchair access to a wheelchair inaccessible path. They are taking the mickey! Click to comment: here.

Link to full mother-lode of consultation materials here

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No idea when Bertie Park will go to planning!

OX place is the council-owned developer who wants to build on Bertie Park. They want to build a 250m path on the land behind Wytham Street to compensate us for our loss. To access it they need to build a new bridge across the Redbridge Stream.

The Environment Agency first objected to OX Place’s bridge two years ago. Ox Place has now designed a new one. The new plans first have to be signed off by OCC Planning Department. Then there’ll have to be another community consultation.

source

All this has upset the apple cart! OCC have no idea when Bertie Park will go to planning committee.

What Oxford City Council have said…

* OCC have twice said there’ll be another consultation before Bertie Park goes to planning. Now they say there won’t, because their plans haven’t changed.

* When notices went up around Bertie Park in 2024, they said the development did not follow the local plan:

Now they say it does.

* OCC say their drawings and plans are “only indicative”:

So we know it won’t look anything like this! But they want to consult us only AFTER they have planning permission. This isn’t honest. The last time they consulted us, they talked to primary-age kids, then recommended equipment for toddlers.

* OCC say they are now working with the Environment Agency to solve problems. They say Bertie will go to planning committee in the Autumn. Well, it is already Autumn. But we’re still at it! Just treading water …

Why everyone in Oxford should care about Bertie Park

OCC are working on their new “2042” local plan. They want to lump recreation grounds in with “Green Infrastructure.” Nature is the priority. The “potential for recreation and movement should also be considered” … Green Infrastructure does not have to be “overly designed or dominated by fixed equipment”… It could have “wild areas and facilities that encourage engagement with nature and free-play.”

We all know that government guidance says this:

National Policy Planning Framework section 104

The plan says constructors who want to build on Green Infrastructure should consider “how any loss can be mitigated, especially if this is located in an area which already suffers from a deficit.” OCC say that Bertie Park is needed. But they want to build 31 homes. They admit there will be nowhere for free play, but insist that any loss will be “fully compensated for” in less than 20% of the current recreation ground. If they can do this to Bertie Park, they can do this to any recreation ground in Oxford.

The government’s National Planning Policy Framework protects bats. Why don’t we protect children too? (MP Natalie Elphicke). It is right to build a city that is resilient to climate change so that our children have a future, but this should not be done at the expense of their childhood. Read our response to OCC’s consultation on its 2042 proposals here.

Bertie Park Update

The only time we find out anything new is when we talk to council. So that’s what we did! (Full version on OCC’s youtube channel)

Why we couldn’t challenge
appropriation
Why the bridge makes no sense!
(Cllr Hollingsworth continues to ignore proceedings)
3 Questions
Not on the plan!

What OCC Councillor Chapman said (full version here):

  • OX Place will address ALL problems raised by the Environment Agency.
  • THEN there will be another formal planning consultation.
  • The planning application will be “discussed” in the autumn.
  • There will be no consultation on play equipment until after an award of planning permission.

A reminder: the only time OCC asked about play equipment, they questioned school-age children, but specified stuff for toddlers.