Oxfordshire Local Plan Watch

The publication of the draft Oxfordshire Spatial Plan, which will set the framework for the emerging ’Part 2’ Local Plans of the Oxfordshire Districts, is getting closer with the consultation programmed for the summer

The Spatial Plan will provide the overall framework for future growth, identifying the broad areas for strategic scale development over the plan period and planning policies that will shape the delivery of sustainable developments. At the moment, it is understood that Officers have completed analysis of the feedback received through last year’s Regulation 18 consultation and that discussions are ongoing between the authorities about the future housing numbers and spatial options

Alongside the Spatial Plan, a number of authorities continue the process of preparing their Part 2 Plans. These plans will need to be consistent with the Spatial Plan but are likely to provide landowners and developers with an opportunity to put forward non-strategic sites for consideration and to influence the strategy for more the rural areas of Oxfordshire. The Part 2 plans are also likely to have a role in shaping the detail of the strategic growth areas identified in the Spatial Plan, with detailed planning matters to be deferred to the districts.

Five Year Housing Supply

Cherwell is the one Local Authority in Oxfordshire that currently acknowledges the lack of a five-year housing land supply. This means that there is a window for appropriate speculative development applications to be allowed. However, the land supply deficit is marginal, at between 4.7 and 4.8 years, limiting the scale of development likely to be acceptable and the length of time this opportunity may exist.