Sir – The Carterton Town Council (CTC) master plan is constantly changing, or so it would seem.

Monitoring the CTC’s website it is fascinating to see how things can change almost overnight. One recent example is the list of parishes from which they claim to have support. I see that Shilton has been dropped from the list. From this we must ask whether there is real support from affected parishes given the plan’s intention to expand Carterton into parts of Brize Norton, Shilton and Alvescot. All the evidence suggests otherwise.

Contact with representatives of the parish councils (Alvescot, Black Bourton, Brize Norton, Broadwell, Clanfield, Filkins & Broughton Poggs, Kencot, Langford & Shilton) confirms that there has been no formal consultation on the master plan. Brize Norton, Shilton and Clanfield parishes are known to have registered their opposition to expansion beyond Carterton’s current boundaries with, for example, Clanfield saying they will not support the master plan unless all references to development to the west of Carterton are taken out. None of the parishes are happy being cited on the CTC website as supporting the master plan.

The published introduction to the plan says: “The master plan sets a vision for the future development of Carterton” and “The master plan has helped inform the preparation of West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) Local Plan.” How can this be true given the timetable for the Local Plan, which had been finalised well before publication of the Carterton Town Plan? This begs the question of where WODC stands in relation to this plan?

In the light of these assertions, how can we trust that the comments from the consultation exercise will not be massaged in a similar way to support CTC ends. Of course publishing all the comments, both for and against, along with the name and address of the authors and the date received, is an absolute requirement for a fair and open project.

I am sure that there will be overwhelming support for CTC to develop the town centre and this should be the prime objective. Beyond this it remains to be seen whether CTC will live up to the high standards expected of it including full consultation with local parishes.

Dr Phil Holmes
Carterton Road
Brize Norton