Witney News - West Oxfordshire Local Plan update

West Oxfordshire Local Plan update

West Oxfordshire District Council is preparing a new Local Plan to guide development to 2029.

The last round of consultation on the Draft Local Plan took place at the end of 2012 and the Council intended to publish its final Local Plan during the summer 2013 for public examination later in the year.

The Council is keen to ensure that it has carefully considered and addressed all comments made in the last consultation and that its evidence base is robust and up to date.

Following the revocation of the South East Plan and the commissioning of a new Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) for Oxfordshire it has been decided not to progress the plan further until this important piece of evidence is complete. Recent experiences elsewhere in the country suggest that this is critical in seeking to progress the Plan to final approval.

The new SHMA has been commissioned in partnership with all of the Oxfordshire Authorities and is anticipated to be completed in autumn 2013. The Council will need to consider this report before proceeding in order to fully comply with Government planning requirements.

Cllr Warwick Robinson – Portfolio Holder for Planning said: “The Local Plan is key to the future success of West Oxfordshire, guiding much needed homes, jobs and infrastructure for the area to 2029. We need to ensure that it is supported by a sound and robust evidence base which underpins this important development strategy. I am satisfied that we need to wait for the new Strategic Housing Market Assessment to be completed before we can move forward.”

“We have carefully considered whether the delay can be avoided but have been advised that proceeding before the completion of the SHMA could put the Local Plan at risk which may mean the Council being advised to withdraw the plan and restart the examination process. This would be an unsatisfactory situation for all parties involved.”

“The Local Plan is the key document in providing the basis to continue to deliver the development required to meet the needs of the District. It is important that our future plans are robust and based on up to date evidence.”