For 10 years, Tom Hayes was councillor for St Clement’s. He’s now MP for Bournemouth. In 2025 he set up the first all-party parliamentary group on play; fighting hard for recreation grounds like Bertie Park. The government has just published new guidance. Best let Tom explain:
Bertie Park is a little different because it is already on the local plan. The new guidance means we should be able to make sure that Bertie Park never ends up on another local plan. But Oxford City Council have already given planning permission. They’re going to review that decision on 9th September. Finger’s crossed!
Bertie Park is an ex-landfill site. The Environment Agencysays there is a “high risk” that building on the park could disturb the landfill. Contaminants could start to move into the underground water. The Environment Agency is worried because:
the proposed development site is located upon a secondary aquifer which is shallow and has potential to be in continuity with surface water.
Oxford City Council aren’t put off. They’re still dead-set on building!
They say that the builders (the council’s own building company OX Place) will monitor the ground water. They are asking OX place for:
“a contingency action plan including the list of potential mitigation measures that will be implemented, should unexpected changes in groundwater quality be noted as a result of decommissioning piling/other foundation designs works”
Which means a list of things to do if they contaminate the ground water. So, here are 3 suggestions:
1. Get upset
2. Shout at somebody
3. Hope the problem will go away
Bertie Park is going back to planning committee on 9th September. Worried about the aquifer? Please tell your local councillor.
The Oxford city council has a local plan policy that everyone should have a bit of private open space where they can just sit, or eat or dry their washing. Their Bertie Park policy says there has to be a buffer zone between the Redbridge Stream and any buildings. The Environment agency also insisted on a buffer zone.
On Bertie Park, they want to put a block of flats over-looking the children’s playground. The flats had a shared garden. Look closely at the picture on the left. It says “wetland mix”. Not proper grass. Not supposed to be mown. But their garden is now part of a wildlife buffer zone. So, the only bit of outdoor space is that little strip between the ground floor windows and the play area. And it’s on a slope. The council say “it’s usability is severely limited for future residents …” i.e. ‘it’s a fat lot of good’! Residents will have nowhere to sit, eat, or hang out their washing. Oxford City Council they say this is OK because residents can look out over the buffer zone where their garden was supposed to be….
There are so many reasons why building on Bertie Park doesn’t make sense! Bertie Park is going back to planning committee on September 9th. We will find out if OCC want to listen.
From 2020 to 2024 Sandford Sewage works leaked sewage into the river for a total of 9 months. The Bertie Park development would produce more sewage. And so, the Environment Agency objected. They only removed their objection when Oxford City Council said they would include a “planning condition” that the homes would not be occupied until Sandford could cope. Sandford is now being upgraded. Phase 1 should be complete by the end of 2027.
But when Bertie Park went to planning committee in June the planning condition was nowhere to be seen. When members of the planning committee asked about sewage, OCC said that Thames Water hadn’t objected; they assumed “by the lack of objection” that sewage was not an issue as it was such a small development.
The new 2045 local plan also says surface water drainage must be separated from sewage. This is to stop sewage treatment plants being overwhelmed when it rains. But OCC aren’t going to do that for Bertie Park. It’s not a priority.
The government says you shouldn’t build on recreation grounds unless you don’t need them, or you replace them with equal or better. It’s also council policy.
Oxford has a list of parks. Back in 2024 the Parks Department reviewed the bye-laws. They removed Bertie from the list because of plans to build on it. At the planning committee in June, the council said they didn’t need to replace Bertie with equal or better because it wasn’t on the list. So they agreed to shrink Bertie Park to one tenth of it’s size: No grass, a bit of equipment for children up to12, and a much smaller Multi Use Games Area, to be locked from dusk till dawn.
Last year the council published this policy: If a park is not on the list, there must be “strong evidence” that it isn’t needed: “long-term lack of public access and/or use.” Well, that’s not true. Government policy says recreation grounds should be replaced by equal or better whether they’re on a list or not! On 9th September, Bertie Park is going back to planning committee again. Watch this space!
Ex-Mayor Cllr Upton is chair of the planning committee. She summed up before voting to build on Bertie: “I actually think, having grown up in the countryside, I love having wild space to go around that’s not actually a MUGA or a playground. I think having a nature trail around Site B could be actually rather nice, especially as climate change happens and the world gets hotter. Being out on the MUGA or out on an open playground is going to be perhaps less attractive … than walking around Site B.”
What is a nature trail?
Our “wild space” is accessed by a footbridge that the police say “will be very narrow and constrained, leaving users of this space at greatly increased risk of crime, with no option for escape should they be approached by a hostile actor.”
Makes me wonder if there were county lines when Cllr Upton was growing up? So Bertie Park will be going to the planning review committee on 9th September.
MP Tom Hayes (Oxford City Councillor 2014-2024) says: “Play isn’t a luxury—it’s essential for children to enjoy themselves, build friendships, get away from screens, and forge stronger communities…. Few things sit at the heart of a community like a playground.”
Oxford city council planning committee has approved plans for building 100% social/affordable housing on Bertie Park. This depends on the award of a Homes England grant. If they don’t get the grant, they have to go back to planning committee.
A huge thank you to all those who were able to come along and support us!
They will plant blackberry bushes to make sure that people can’t wander off the path in site B (land behind Wytham St). On site A it’s now clear that only 11% of the current Bertie Park will be left for recreation. There’s no requirement to meet the needs of current or even future users. The only planning conditions imposed were for “provision of (some) playground equipment for children up to 12 years of age” and “measures for the Multi Use Games Area to be secured from “dusk till dawn.” Thames Valley Police concerns were largely ignored.
We think there are other issues that are clear grounds for judicial review. Watch this space! The whole meeting is available on the council’s YouTube site. Our speeches start at 18.50m.
We don’t object to social housing, but to the lack of facilities for young people. We don’t know what local governance will be like after the review, but the next battle has to be for a proper recreation policy.
Bertie Park is 90 years old. It was built at a time when it made more sense to invest in recreation grounds to keep people healthy, than hospitals to treat the sick. This means that most people in this area played on Bertie Park, their kids play on it, or their grandchildren do. That’s why we are demonstrating:
Councils legally must produce plans which are “deliverable during the plan period.” OCC boast that Bertie Park has been on local plans for more than 30 years. This just means it was never deliverable. Plans also must meet government guidelines like this:
Plans for building on Bertie Park always said: “Planning permission will only be granted … if the existing Bertie Place recreation ground, including a replacement Multi Use Games Area, is re-provided on land” behind Wytham Street (SP32). But this just isn’t possible; they are going to shrink the park to less than 20% of its current size.
OCC declare that their plans are “in broad conformity with the NPPF (government guidelines)”. Thames Valley Police don’t agree (here and here). We don’t agree. 840 people took part in our survey. This is what they thought:
OCC admit “there will be an impact on local children and young people by the loss / reduction of these facilities (BUT) this is balanced against the provision of new affordable housing some of which is aimed at families.” But new kids won’t have anywhere to run around either! Oxford City Council create complexity in order to obscure the issues. If you want to do your head in, read the officer’s report to planning committee. We have produced a deep dive into the issues; you can either dive or dip a toe in.
Save Bertie Park Oxford 
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