PAGE Campaign

PAGE submits first round of evidence to Oxfordshire County Council

Oxfordshire County Council are currently receiving submissions from interested groups as part of their Minerals review.   PAGE has submitted an interim report to the County Council planning team.   This report covers our initial evidence on transport, ecology, landscape impact, minerals production and archaeology.   The OCC timetable keeps moving, but we believe that the review will be completed in September and a recommendation will be made to the County Council Cabinet in October.  

Our evidence is key in persuading the planners that our area is unsuitable for minerals extraction, and we will continue the investigations to build our opposition case.   For example, we are now undertaking further work in sustainability and climate change.

In addition, the pressure on the County Council to review the minerals quota is growing from other community groups in Oxfordshire.  PAGE have led the way in demanding a review of the county minerals quota at all levels of government. We understand that the planning department will be employing a consultant to reconsider an appropriate quota for the county.  The lower the quota, the lower the need for new minerals extraction sites.   However, we are still concerned that the County Council is putting the "cart before the horse" in that they continue to work on future minerals locations before defining how much should be extracted.  We will continue to lobby the individual County Councillors who can influence this process.

A great many thanks should go to our team of experts who have donated their time and expertise to build our campaign evidence. 

Drayton St Leonard Great Autumn Car Treasure Hunt - Sunday 24th October

Join the in the Great Autumn Car Treasure Hunt to help raise money for the PAGE Campaign.

Starting and finishing at Drayton St Leonard, the treasure hunt will take you across South Oxfordshire in a fun afternoon of puzzles and challenges.

If you are interested in taking part please register your team with either John Fitzgerald 07801 354799 or Rachel Herron 01865 400267 or email dsltreasurehunt@hotmail.co.uk

Minimum 2 people per car.  The winners will be the car with the most correct answers, least penalty points and lowest mileage.

Park in the Farrant's field to record your start mileage and meet in the Village Hall at 12noon.  Latest finish time is 4pm.  Presentation to the winners in the Catherine Wheel at 5pm.

Only £20 per car and all profits will go to the PAGE Campaign.

PAGE Pub Quiz - Sunday 5th September

Pitch your wits at The Coach & Horses in Chiselhampton at the PAGE Pub Quiz.

7pm, Sunday 5th September

Prizes for Winners

Team sizes up to 6 people.  Cost £2 per head.

Please contact Catherine Roe on 01865 890843 to register your team or turn up on the night.

All proceeds to the PAGE Campaign.

PAGE included in Guardian's Piece-by-Piece campaign showcase

The PAGE Campaign has been included in The Guardian's new online showcase for local environmental groups.  The Piece by Piece project aims to bring together local groups who are fighting to save their natural environments from development.

The Piece by Piece interactive showcase was launched last week, and the Dorchester-Warborough-Benson area (nominated site SG-13) was one of the first local campaigns listed.  

We have also submitted the Berinsfield-Drayton-Newington-Stadhampton-Chiselhampton area (nominated sites SG-09, SG-59) to the Guardian website for inclusion.   

Links:
Guardian Piece by Piece campaign homepage
Dorchester, Warborough & Benson quarrying site: Fields under threat

Archaeological features near Drayton St Leonard & Stadhampton

A Flickr slideshow of archaeological features in the fields between Drayton St Leonard and Stadhampton.

Charles Dickerson, from Drayton St Leonard, describes the background information to this slideshow:

"The land surrounding the village of Drayton St Leonard is particularly well suited for the large-scale cultivation of arable crops such as wheat, barley, and oilseed rape.  Consisting of clay, overlaying varying depths of flinty gravel the land is generally free-draining and in “normal” seasons, when sufficient moisture is available a crop grows and ripens uniformly.  Unfortunately (for farmers and gardeners) but fortunately (for anyone with more than a passing interest in archaeology), 2010 has been characterized by severe drought and in these conditions, areas of land that best retain moisture are revealed by a different appearance in the overlying crop, resulting in cropmarks.

"In Drayton, and other places in the upper Thames Valley and Southern England, cropmarks often take the form of long lines enclosing more or less regular shapes.  Examples of these shapes are the rectangular Cursus monuments; other examples are Causewayed Enclosures, which show considerable variation in shape and size and have gaps in their boundaries.  Created in Neolithic times, the functions of both monuments are still the subject of debate.

"Archaeological research has shown that the boundaries of cursuses and causewayed enclosures were constructed of ditches, with banks raised alongside, sometimes topped by timber palisades.  The ditches became back-filled over the years, thus replacing excavated subsoil with fertile, humus-containing topsoil.  This back-fill better retains moisture and nutrients, and the presence of the former ditches is revealed by lines of higher-standing, greener plants which stand out from the vast bulk of the crop.

"These lines can be photographed from the air, and most of the photographs of Drayton’s Cursus and Causewayed Enclosure reproduced below were taken in early July."

Evidence such as these aerial photographs can be used to identify and clarify the existence of archaeology.  The presence of substantial and nationally significant archaeology helps to protect our landscape from potential destruction by sand and gravel quarrying.  

Many thanks to George Farrant and Charles Dickerson for their aerial photography and background information.