Next Steps

Comments must be received by Cherwell District Council by 11 January.

STBIG will be working over the coming weeks to help ensure that the community is aware of the planning application and how it can respond. We will also be further exploring the detail of the application, with a view to uncovering inconsistencies and omissions and ensuring that Cherwell District Council is aware of these.

STBIG has asked our local district Councillors to 'call in' the application. This would ensure it receives more detailed scrutiny by being assessed at a committee level, and would also extend the timeframe for comments.

STBIG will, if feasible within the timeframe for comments, set up a further public meeting, to support the community in understanding and engaging with the process.

The Bell Inn has been nominated by the Parish Council as an Asset of Community Value, and this outcome will be determined by 27 January, and when we hear we will communicate this to the the community.

If the developers planning application is approved, the developer will be allowed to convert the pub into a house and then either live there, or sell it on at a significant profit. Our belief is that he also intends to develop the car park for further housing once change of use for the pub has been granted.

If the planning application is not approved, then the developer may appeal. STBIG would at this point step up efforts to persuade the developer to sell the pub back to the community.