Firstly, I am all for appropriate development in Bicester and improving the employment opportunities in the town, however this proposal is quite simply the wrong development, in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

There is already an existing proposal to move the main Tesco store across the road as part of a business park on land next to Bicester Avenue. This is an excellent location for office development. There is also land off Launton road and surrounding the large DHL building that would be a good location for other industrial/storage distribution. I also understand the MOD would like to sell some of the land near to Graven Hill – and this would be perfect for industrial use as there would be possibility for it to use the existing rail tracks in that area.

The site off Howes Lane that Albion Land are proposing to develop is situated on the far side of Bicester from the town centre and much of the traffic would be coming in from the M40 at Junction 10 and through Middleton Stoney, or through the middle of Bicester from Aylesbury. People working at this site would also drive into Bicester at lunchtime, whereas other sites would be within easy walking distance.

From talking to the representatives from Albion Land tonight I conclude that:

• they have not bought the land
• they do not have outline planning permission
• they have little or no local knowledge of Bicester (they were unable to answer several simple questions that I would have expected them to know the answer to)

This land is already earmarked for the Eco Bicester development but the company seem to have little concept of what is expected of an ‘eco’ development beyond that of building warehouses to the latest design constructions. Where is the Eco in encouraging the transport of goods by road on roads that are not designed for those kind of vehicles?

Furthermore, if development is to take place on the Howes Lane land it should only be after other suitable sites have already been used as part of the continued growth of Bicester.

I am writing to you to request that you oppose this development at every opportunity in favour of more appropriate developments that will actually enhance the future of Bicester as a market town in Oxfordshire.

Of course I’m not expecting the Right Honourable (sic.) Tony Baldry to do anything – he’s a true blue and just as dim – and probably in bed with tweedledum and tweedledee at Albion Land…

At the time though, perhaps because I did not get the revelatory, BIG change in myself that some of my friends who have done the Springboard course got in themselves, I was left with the impression that although it was interesting, and thought-provoking, it did little more than reaffirm in my mind things that I already knew or had worked out for myself.

This year though, Human Resources sent round and email to past particpants asking if we could talk with any prospective-participants for this years programme. I agreed to this, and today, I had a short chat with someone in Finance interested in going on it. I explained, in a bit more depth what Navigator involved, and what I got out of it, I explained more or less what I’ve outlined above (but in more detail that I shall spare you)…

Anyway, it was during this chat, that something quite unexpected happened to me: I realised how much of an emormous help Navigator had been to me, how much it has affected the way that I think, feel and behave. I’ve done things that I would have never have done before. I now feel able to speak out and say what I’m feeling/thinking, instead of shying a way into a corner and bottling it up. I’ve started this journal – I don’t think I could have been so open and written things here before then. I was in Tallinn last summer and saw the amber pendant wanted it, bought it and have worn it every day since (well apart from the days when I’m wearing the silver one from Edinburgh), and felt good about it – I certainly couldn’t have done that two, three years ago! I’m more open with my feelings, and I think I’m happier for it.

And all this realisation from five minutes talking with someone of whom I’ve never met, about a course that I was previously unsure of. I guess very often, you don’t realise how much something has affected you until you attempt to describe it to someone else. I felt so inspired by this that I felt I had to go there and then and talk with the training officer in HR how much I do value the course after all. I recommend it to anyone! ^__^