A BLUEPRINT for where development in Cherwell will take place for the next 15 years has been approved by a Government planning inspector.

Cherwell District Council’s Local Plan has set aside space for 22,840 homes to be built and 200 hectares of employment space created in the district up to 2031.

It was approved by planning inspector Nigel Payne after an 18-month examination, including a delay last year.

The document is also seen as a test case by other councils in Oxfordshire, as it is the first to be put forward since the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) was published in March 2014.

The SHMA – commissioned jointly by all of Oxfordshire’s biggest councils – said there was a need for 100,000 more homes in the county by 2031.

In June 2014 Mr Payne told the local authority to revise its draft Local Plan so that it took into account the SHMA.

In a statement today Michael Gibbard, Cherwell District Council’s lead member for planning, said councillors would now be asked to approve the plan and it would then be brought into use.

This would give the council more control over the developments proposed in its area because developers would no longer be able to argue the current plan was out of date, Mr Gibbard said.

He added: “Cherwell will no longer be held to ransom by opportunistic developers and will once again be in charge of its own destiny.”

After Mr Payne paused the Local Plan examination last June, the district council’s revised plan included 6,050 more homes than originally proposed.

The plan also commits Cherwell to finding space in the future to help Oxford with its own housing need - a key demand of Oxford City Council, which gave evidence to Mr Payne at the plan’s hearing.

In his report Mr Payne wrote that a county-wide review of the Green Belt, currently being undertaken jointly by Oxfordshire’s councils, would help address this.

He added: “This should ensure that the overall needs of the countywide housing market area are fully addressed.

“I endorse this important policy decision by the relevant councils, including Cherwell, as appropriate, reasonable and realistic in the current context.”