Old Marston- Mill Lane Allotments

Mill Lane was once a country lane between Old Marston and Cherwell Farm before it was cut in half by the construction of the northern bypass, the A40. It is no longer possible to get from one end of the lane to the other.Mill Lane Allotments are in a wedge of land between Mill Lane and the A40. Although the allotmentsare deemed to be in Old Marston village they are also in the newest part of the village. To the south there is a new housing development called the Bradlands. Further south is a brand new housing estate along Cumberlege Close. To the east is Wards Mobile Home Park.To the west a new housing estate is being planned directly opposite the allotments. This land is currently a farm with three or four large fields some of which will be bought up by Oxford city council to build 159 new houses. These farmers’ fields are adjacent to half a dozen meadows along the Cherwell river. Some of these meadows are owned by the Oxford Preservation Society, and are known as Marston Hamm, but some are owned by Oxford city council. Virtually all of the meadows, and some of the farmers’ fields, are on the Cherwell’s flood plain.To repeat a theme I have mentioned in other reviews - most of this area was once off-limits to the public. There was only a single footpath through this area which ran between the A40 bridge over the Cherwell and the Victoria Arms pub.The new houses along Cumberlege Close can be seen across a lot of the meadows along the river Cherwell. The new Mill Lane housing estate will also become visible on many of these meadows.The medieval part of Old Marston, which still retains something of a rural character, is thus being squeezed from all sides by new housing developments and from the south by New Marston. It is also losing its direct connections to Old Marston’s meadows, Marston Hamm.I visited Mill Lane allotments in the hope of being able to have a look around as I did when I visited Court Place Farm Allotments, but the allotments were shut and all I could do was to take a couple of photos from the two gates off Mill Lane.I was surprised to find that the allotments are owned by Old Marston Parish council. The parish council also owns the Boults Lane playing field and the cemetery off the Elsfield Road.New Marston has suffered from flooding for the last fifty years. Although it is doubtful that the Mill Lane housing estate will flood because it is on land above the Cherwell flood plain, the water that runs off this estate is going to have to be controlled to prevent it from adding to the flooding of the Cherwell. The more housing estates which are added to this area, the more they will add to flooding by the Cherwell. This is almost bound to lead to yet another Flood Alleviation Scheme in Oxford.Even though there is a considerable shortage of land in the city on which to build, the city council insists on building horizontally as if it is addicted to urban sprawl. It built five multi-storey blocks of flats which saved a huge area of the city’s greenery from being buried in concrete and tarmac but although it is supposedly going green it doesn’t seem to want to go back to the days of building good solid multi-story blocks of flats in order to protect the greenery which moderates global warming.St Clements has become heavily built up along another part of the Cherwell but, in effect, this has avoided the need to cement over the Angel and Greyhound Meadow.