About the Oxfordshire Plan

Joint statement from the leaders of South Oxfordshire District Council, Vale of White Horse District Council, Cherwell District Council, Oxford City Council, and West Oxfordshire District Council

“The five Local Planning authorities in Oxfordshire have been working together on a joint plan for Oxfordshire to 2050. It is with regret that we were unable to reach agreement on the approach to planning for future housing needs within the framework of the Oxfordshire Plan.

“Local Plans for the City and Districts will now provide the framework for the long term planning of Oxfordshire. The Oxfordshire Plan 2050 work programme will end and we will now transition to a process focused on Local Plans. The issues of housing needs will now be addressed through individual Local Plans for each of the City and Districts. The Councils will cooperate with each other and with other key bodies as they prepare their Local Plans.”

Background

The Oxfordshire Plan 2050 is one of the commitments made by the six Oxfordshire authorities as part of the £215m Housing & Growth Deal, which will help deliver greatly needed new homes – including affordable and social housing, and infrastructure to the county while helping to tackle climate change.

By having all six authorities involved, the Plan will be able to collectively consider the needs of the county and align its strategies so that future housing and infrastructure is more joined up.

This is important as many people live and work across the county – their everyday life is not restricted to district administrative boundaries and so neither should planning for the future.

All six authorities can also work better together to identify and implement policies to help tackle climate change across the county.

Issues such as the Green Belt, biodiversity and transport will also benefit from consideration at a higher level with a consistent approach across all the authorities.

Each Oxfordshire district committed through the Oxfordshire Housing & Growth Deal to submitting a Local Plan for examination by April 2019. The districts are at different stages of this, however each authority is well on the way to producing a Local Plan covering the period up to between 2031 and 2036.

The Oxfordshire Plan builds on the foundations set by the current and emerging Local Plans and looks beyond them, at the strategic planning issues for the period up to 2050. It will give districts a framework for future planning policies and help determine planning applications where appropriate.

The Plan will not allocate sites for housing or employment. Instead, it will identify key areas for sustainable growth with associated housing / employment numbers, while considering how to help tackle climate change, improve water efficiency and mitigate flood risk. Districts will then use this to produce future Local Plans which will provide a detailed view of how housing and infrastructure will be delivered, and how they will address the climate emergency.

Governance

There are three groups that have been established to help guide the preparation and delivery of the Oxfordshire Plan 2050.

Member sub-group
The Member sub-group is a sub-group of the Future Oxfordshire Partnership and consists of members from all district/city councils as well as a county council observer. It provides political advice and input in the Oxfordshire Plan project team. It is not a decision-making body, but instead it makes recommendations to the Partnership and Local Planning Authorities. Current members are detailed below.

Alex Hollingsworth

Alex Hollingsworth, Oxford City Council

Colin Clarke

Colin Clarke, Cherwell District Council

Debby Hallett

Debby Hallett, Vale of White Horse District Council

Jeff Haine

Jeff Haine, West Oxfordshire District Council

Anne-Marie Simpson

Anne-Marie Simpson, South Oxfordshire District Council

Duncan Enright

Duncan Enright, Oxfordshire County Council

Emily Smith

Emily Smith, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council & Chair of Sub-Group

Officer Project Board
The Officer Project Board is made up of the Heads of Service from all district/city councils. Also on the board is the Oxfordshire Plan Project sponsor and the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal Workstream Leads. There are also representatives from the County Council, OxLEP, Homes England and other statutory bodies.

Liaison Team
The Liaison Team is made up of planning officers from all six councils. It provides the key link between the team of people producing the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 and the authorities. The Liaison Team brings key messages from their organisations to those working on the Plan and provides feedback to them on proposals and plans based on discussions within their organisations. It works to produce project management documents and arrangements to initiate the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 project.

Documents

Regulation 19

In preparation

About the Oxfordshire Plan

Background

Governance

Alex Hollingsworth

Colin Clarke

Debby Hallett

Jeff Haine

Anne-Marie Simpson

Duncan Enright

Emily Smith

Documents

Regulation 19

Regulation 19 Evidence Base

Regulation 18 (Part 2) Consultation Documents

Regulation 18 (part 2) Accompanying Documents

Evidence for Regulation 18 (part 2) Consultation Documents

Regulation 18 (Part 1) Consultation Documents

Regulation 18 (part 1) consultation report

Evidence for Regulation 18 part 1

Project Planning Documents