Save Old Walter, Bunkers Hill, Kidlington (2026)

Sadly developers may demolish him shortly due to his inclusion within a S106.

19/05/2021

Vintage milkfloats rally to help Humphrey the camper van save Old Walter!!!

Mabel, Maud & Mildred our old milkfloats are coming out of retirement to support Humphrey. Rumours are, the developer may try an offensive tomorrow and the brave old girls are ready to form a rear guard blockade.

Florence, the nursery’s famous orange & white Unigate float is guarding the front approach. She is gearing up for a 5 mph dash to protect the trees from being cut down and nesting woodland birds from disturbance. If you are a closet eco-warrior and would like to support the fearless ‘flotilla’ in their valiant efforts then please contact Andrew and Lucy urgently ([email protected])

The tabloid press have been invited but we need as many supporters tomorrow to turn up to help us get the developers to honour their pledges for the community. Call into the nursery any time tomorrow for photographs that you can share.

Any independent investigative journalist that wants a spectacular backstory please also contact us. Our village residents’ committee have decided, after being unable to retain promises & benefits, to now bizarrely support the developers with putting new pumps under the water tower Old Walter which will enable the developers to retain the estimated 56k demolition costs!

This may possibly save the water tower but will mean that residents won’t get a new mains supply of fresh water which risks going back to the bad old days of a storage tank and possible E-coli.

Developers have made TEN 5/6 bedroom houses with no starter homes or affordable housing. This is on an old bowling green & sports club and is classed as ‘building in the open countryside’ and ‘unsustainble’ as there is no cycle lane/footpath for children to the nearest town. The community will have to rely on cars to get to nearby schools or to the shops.

Our neighbours have given up seeing any justice so ourselves (Andrew & Lucy) along with Humphrey & the milkfloat girls are trying to get as much publicity as possible to shine a light on the way our community has been treated. Anyone that can offer legal advice do please contact us.

We really would appreciate your help & support by sharing this post and getting involved at the nursery.

For more of the story & to see our comical video of Humphrey sprouting wings and flying up over the meadow to land on Walter’s loaf of bread:

www.bunkershillgardenshop.co.uk/save-old-walter

09/05/2021

Old Walter needs your help from the threat of demolishment. Join Humphrey the happy camper in saving him for wildlife to enjoy:

https://bunkershillgardenshop.co.uk/save-old-walter/

Read about the history of Old Walter & the threat to his future on our website

11/04/2021

Old Walter needs your help right now!

Developers have Old Walter in their sights and his friends have rallied round to help him.
We, the owners of Bunkers Hill Plant Nursery, have offered to sponsor Walter with an ambitious plan to make him into a home for roosting bats that visit the surrounding woods & our wildflower meadow.

Developers have had other plans and included his demolition as a ‘benefit to the community’ within planning obligations for 10 five/six-bedroom houses on a former bowing green & sports club.

Many residents fought hard against the development as it was contrary to government & council planning policy which deemed it as “building in the open countryside”, but local councillors overturned this believing that our rural hamlet would be improved by more houses.

Lots of offers & pledges were made to residents of the existing 24 houses at Bunkers Hill in order to gain support prior to the outline planning application but most have since evaporated into thin air, i.e. new mains fed water supply to eliminate the risk of E.coli (as happened in the past), removal of lead pipes, an acre of recreation land for allotments & for children to play etc.

Humphrey, our family’s 1971 classic campervan has joined in to help by parking on top of Old Walter. It’s quite a mystery how he got up there a few days before Christmas. Some are convinced that he flew up there himself like chitty chitty bang bang but others speculate that his feathered friends & other woodland creatures lifted him up by helicopter or crane early one morning.

The woodland is community-owned and landlocked between the plant nursery & its wildflower meadow so now the only way to demolish Old Walter would be to cut down established trees which are covered in ivy and home to nesting birds & a host of wild creatures including a family of hedgehogs.

The protest, by ourselves, is to highlight the destruction of Britain’s beautiful countryside for more & more houses. Also, its to bring attention to how rural communities, such as Bunkers Hill, are preyed on by developers with the promise of enhancement by community benefits but in reality, it’s to satisfy the greed of the developers & boost their profits once planning is given. Many communities will empathise having fought similar battles and lost, so perhaps would consider supporting Old Walter in order to put the spotlight on the shortfalls of the planning system and how it could be improved.

However, Bunkers Hill’s tale is quite unlike any other you will have heard of. There is a twist to this particular story as by the developer’s including Walter’s demolition in the 4 planning applications, they are unable to sell their houses until he is demolished!

The result is a three-way standoff between the council insisting that Old Walter is demolished as part of the s106 agreement unless there is significant public support to save him; the developers who want to sell their houses without the cost & risk of going back to planning; and ourselves who are intending to keep Humphrey on top of the Old Walter in order to get some of the lost benefits back for the community & make Old Walter a wildlife haven for bats & birds.

Pressure is being put on us to remove Humphrey the camper and we can confirm that we will not be removing him anytime soon. We will be enjoying a leisurely breakfast and the sunrise over the fields from the best camping pitch in England!

I hope you will support our family & neighbours in getting justice at last for Walter & our community by doing any of these suggestions:
1. Like & share this post to as many people as possible
2. Come into Bunkers Hill plant nursery and write a comment on one of our ‘Save Walter’ signs and then take a picture in front of Walter & Humphrey to share with your friends.
3. Become a special friend of Walter by following this page so we can keep you updated or contact us directly if you'd like to do more
4. Offer to stand with us in front of the diggers & chainsaws if it gets to that point
5. Offer legal advice to fight for our hamlet’s lost benefits & to save Old Walter
6. Sign our online petition to gain lost benefits for our community as well as a footpath/cycle lane to the nearest shops & a safe pedestrian crossing over the busy A4260 http://chng.it/7xCCkTq6pb
7. If desired take part in our crowd funding which would help save Old Walter - including legal costs and additional money raised for local nature conservation and mental health projects. https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/save-old-walter-his-surrounding-woodland-habitat?tk=c690d3be0274f4e988f6acdba61a0c1273f0e7f0

We hope that Walter’s story will inspire others to stand up for what is right and to encourage all businesses to be profitable & successful but with a little extra kindness. Conservation of our British countryside and wildlife need to be treasured and we hope that you will be as passionate as we are to preserve it wherever possible.

Many thanks
Andrew & Lucy

29/01/2020

Old Walter is surrounded by a meadow bursting with wild flowers last year ☀️🌸☀️ He had hundreds of visitors to see him looking over his retirement home! Sadly developers may demolish him shortly due to his inclusion within a S106 agreement.
Local residents and friends are getting together to help save Old Walter with an ambitious project to strengthen his creaky old legs and to adapt him to provide a wonderful home for bats. These can be seen in the surrounding woodland and meadows and Walter would make a unique & perfect host for a large colony.
Presently he is at the mercy of the developer's demolition machines but we hope that combined with the Cherwell Planning Department that a preservation order can be put on dear Old Walter and his surrounding woodland so he can enjoy his twilight years.
Please help us by signing our petition https://www.change.org/p/cherwell-district-council-save-old-walter?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_20158611_en-GB%3Av7&recruited_by_id=7b8d15f0-421d-11ea-b36c-95b3ae130f2f&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=share_petition
🦇🦇🦇🦇🐝🦉🦋If you would like join our group of like minded supporters of this campaign then you can become a “Friend of Old Walter “just message us and we will keep you updated with our progress ( if we are successful you will get special invitations to the ongoing conservation work and hopefully bat evenings in due course )
This site is focusing purely on the saving of Old Walter and woodland conservation . We have a band of volunteers on stand- by should diggers and chainsaws arrive without notice but would welcome more so please message if you can help .
Any queries regarding planning or history then we will pass this on to bunkers Hill management company.
( the council have suggested we get a solicitor which is difficult as residents funds are low - is there retired solicitor who cares enough about the environment to help for free ?? If so please contact us soon .
Many thanks - Walters Friends🦇🦇🦇🦉🐝🦋🐌🐞🐜🐛🕷

Address

Bunkers Hill
Kidlington
OX53

Website

https://bunkershillgardenshop.co.uk/save-old-walter/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Save Old Walter posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organisation

Send a message to Save Old Walter:

Save Old Walter