Two points of vehicle access are proposed from Spring Hill in the form of priority T-junctions in accordance with Oxfordshire County Council’s Residential Road Design Guide. Formal pre-application advice has been sought from Oxfordshire County Council as the Highways Authority and this has informed the design of the site access and wider accessibility considerations.

Existing links in and out of the centre of the village can be improved, with the upgrading and extension of the footpath along Spring Hill. The proposed footpath improvements would connect to existing footpaths which run through the site and connect to the wider network.

To understand the potential vehicle movements from the new homes, current car movements have been assessed to understand their direction of travel. These results during the AM and PM peak periods lead us to conclude that cars will disperse easily onto the existing roads. Whilst there are some known areas of congestion in the district, the new homes are not expected to generate any additional car journeys that cannot be mitigated.

Spring Hill will be a sustainable development of new homes and will allow residents to make travel choices that do not rely on private car use. Therefore good access to public transport and cycling routes is important in providing convenient travel alternatives.

The illustrative masterplan has been designed around safe and sustainable routes that link to the surrounding network so that walking and cycling will be an attractive and convenient option. The current Public Right of Way through the site will be unaffected and integrated as part of the site’s internal pedestrian routes. A number of key amenities are within walking distance, including the John Blandy Primary School (2km), One Stop (1km), Co-Op (1.1km), Post Office (1.4km), Village Hall (1.2km) and St John the Baptist Church (2km).

The new homes are well serviced by public transport. There are existing bus stops situated on Spring Hill outside the site covering the route from Witney-Abingdon and Swindon-Faringdon-Oxford. The addition of more housing and therefore residents will support the long term viability of the bus route and this has been reinforced through engagement with the local bus service provider (Stagecoach).