CAMPAIGNERS are calling for consultation on a key document which sets out where and how many houses will be built in Oxfordshire, and how the county can mitigate flood risk and tackle climate change.
The Oxfordshire Plan 2050 will be used by leading councils in the county to produce further Local Plans, detailing how housing and infrastructure will be delivered in the next 30 years.
The Future Oxfordshire Partnership (FOP) – formerly the Oxfordshire Growth Board – is responsible for supporting delivery of the Plan.
A spokesperson for FOP told this newspaper that the Plan is set to be adopted by December 2024, following discussions with a Government department.
However, Need Not Greed Oxon (NNGO) – a coalition of 40 groups across Oxfordshire – has hit out at a perceived lack of progress on the Plan, since the last consultation on it closed in October.
While NNGO supports the Plan in principle, providing it reflects the needs of local people, campaigners are concerned at how slowly things are moving.
In a statement, NGGO said: “A decision on the level of housing growth to be embedded in the Plan was initially due in December last year.
“In January, it was said ‘officers are reviewing the work programme and timeline for the Oxfordshire Plan, and we aim to conclude that review soon’.
“Bringing the next version of the Plan to councillors for sign off at the last minute, when the work has already been completed and there is no realistic prospect of any amendments, is unlikely to be acceptable to Oxfordshire residents.”
David Young, formerly director of environmental services at Oxfordshire County Council, and member of POETS (Planning Oxfordshire’s Environment and Transport Sustainably), said: “The Plan is crucial to the level of development up to 2050, how the county will deal with climate change and other major issues such as loss of biodiversity.
“Yet our elected representatives are not being open about the status of the Plan and this falls well below our expectations.”
A FOP scrutiny panel meeting is scheduled for June 7, before a full meeting on June 13.
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A spokesperson for FOP said: “Members of the Future Oxfordshire Partnership are grateful for all the comments received in response to last year’s consultation and we recognise that there is a wide range of views.
“We have for some time been in discussion with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) about the timetable for the plan as we wish to ensure that there is sufficient time for evidence gathering, and public and political engagement.
“We have recently agreed with DLUHC that we can amend the timescale, with the goal of adopting the plan by December 2024.
“In light of this agreement with DLUHC, we are now reviewing the work programme and will communicate the revised schedule and timelines when that review is complete.
“We will ensure that the programme includes sufficient time for effective scrutiny of the plan.
“We are commissioning additional evidence to support the Oxfordshire Plan 2050, and we confirm once again that no decisions have yet been made on future housing targets for Oxfordshire.
“The FOP and its Oxfordshire Plan Advisory Group will continue to coordinate the programme, and formal decisions will be taken by councillors in each authority through the usual processes of council meetings.”
In April, FOP came under fire after a report criticised the methodologies used for calculating population and employment growth in Oxfordshire.
The results of those calculations will be used to decide the future number of new houses to be built across the county, and appeared in the Oxfordshire Growth Needs Assessment (OGNA).
Suzanne McIvor, chair of Cherwell Development Watch Alliance, said: “The ORS report has suggested that the OGNA is not good enough to form the basis of evidence for the housing levels to be included in the Oxfordshire Plan.
“The OGNA suggests that on top of 85,000 homes already committed to in Oxfordshire, there will be a further 16,000 to 67,000 depending on what the councils agree on.
“We believe that these housing levels are far too high and are based on data in the OGNA which has been manipulated to overstate housing requirements.”
Read more from this author
This story was written by Liam Rice, he joined the team in 2019 as a multimedia reporter.
Liam covers politics, travel and transport. He occasionally covers Oxford United.
Get in touch with him by emailing: Liam.rice@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter @OxMailLiamRice
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