After 4.5 hours, the committee refused the AL5 Furtho Pit application at Old Stratford.
Credit to the residents and parish councils who put in the work long before this hearing — the objections, the evidence, the persistence. Credit too to everyone who stood up and spoke on the night.
Credit to the councillors, who gave 4.5 hours to actually listen and work through the detail rather than wave it through.
Whatever the officers’ presentation tried to sell this as, these pictures from their own slides told the real story: rural land, not urban infill. No amount of framing changed what the committee could see with their own eyes.
I played a part in this alongside everyone else who spoke — but this was a win built by residents and parish councils. My job was to help land it.
The designation of Local Wildlife Site is now very important cover 10 hectares of the site and arguably the most developable part of it. The pink area below is the newly designated wildlife area.
1-0 up at half time. The second half — the appeal — is likely to follow. Onwards.
Full meeting: Strategic Planning Committee, 30 June 2026
Speakers on the day:
- Andy Bush
- Dominic Woodfield
- Chris Bird, Cosgrove PC
- Mike Fitch, Old Stratford PC
- Lynne Compton, Stony Stratford PC
- Stephanie Spence, Deanshanger PC
- Sarah Bool MP
- Ian McCord
- Mr Frampton
