Reprovision of Bertie Park is to be determined by consultation; our previous experience doesn’t inspire confidence. We have been told many, many times that there has been extensive consultation (Cllr Hollingsworth July 2022).
For the 2045 local plan consultation, every household received a hard copy of a survey which was borderline readable. Most people binned it. It did not flag up the fact that the MUGA was no longer protected, nor did it ask if people approved of construction on Bertie Park. We found out by accident that this question was in the on-line survey. So we encouraged people to complete the online survey. We have no idea what the results were; they will probably have been ignored.
At the November 22 community consultation, they did not ask we were in favour of construction on Bertie Park, but they concluded that comments showed “a good level of support, with condition.” They responded to community concerns by e.g. promising to keep one of the large cherry trees, and provide additional bat and bird boxes (2026 Planning statement).
OCC’s “successful” youth engagement in Feb 2023 involved talking to school-aged kids. The result was a playground which was still labelled as an LAP (i.e. for under 6s) with one change to the toddler climbing frame (Statement of Community Involvement).
In January 2023, the Bertie Park Campaign carried out a survey of 868 people from 489 households. The majority of people did not think that OCC’s proposals were equivalent or better (full results here). The planning portal shows 3 people support OCC’s proposals, and 357 object.
Save Bertie Park Oxford 