Issue - meetings

At its meeting on 17 March 2021 Cabinet will consider a report on the case for preparing a Joint Local Plan, instead of separate local plans for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils. The report of the head of planning which Cabinet will consider on 17 March is attached.

The recommendations of Cabinet will be circulated to all councillors following the Cabinet meeting.

Council considered Cabinet’s recommendation, made at its meeting on 17 March 2021, on the case for preparing a Joint Local Plan, instead of separate local plans for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils.

In introducing Cabinet’s recommendation Councillor Hallett, Cabinet member for corporate services and transformation, stated that the proposal is for Vale of White Horse District Council’s next Local Plan to be a Joint Local Plan with South Oxfordshire District Council. This would be instead of a new Vale of White Horse Local Plan and a new South Oxfordshire Local Plan. If agreed, a Joint Local Plan would be prepared over the next four years. In the meantime, the existing adopted Vale of White Local Plan Parts 1 and 2 would continue to be in force, before being replaced by the new Joint Local Plan.

Any new Joint Plan would cover the period from adoption (expected in 2024) until 2041. As the Vale’s adopted local plan already contained land allocations for development up to 2031, and some beyond this date, the allocations in a new plan would be focussed on the long term and neighbourhood plans would continue to be a strong aspect in the development plan to provide the opportunity for communities to guide development in their areas.

She drew attention to the officer report which set out the advantages and disadvantages of a joint plan covering both the planning and practical reasons and included a proposed timetable for a joint local plan. 

She explained that legislation allowed the councils to prepare a joint plan: 

·         Section 28 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 allowed two or more local planning authorities (district councils) to prepare a joint local plan.  The county council in two-tier areas, such as Oxfordshire, could be part of the plan-preparation process but could not be part of the formal decision-making as this remained the responsibility of the district councils.  Under Section 28, the final, formal decisions at key local plan stages (consultations, publication, submission, adoption) were made either separately by each council or via a voluntary joint committee. 

·         Section 29 of the 2004 Act enabled county councils to continue to
have a strategic planning role working with district councils.  This allowed for the decision-making on a joint local plan to be conferred on a joint committee.  Under section 29, the county council would be a formal partner in the joint committee and therefore would have equal membership on a committee. 

Cabinet recommended that the process should be undertaken under Section 28 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

The majority of councillors supported the proposal for the following reasons:

·       A joint local plan would provide the opportunity to plan comprehensively across the district boundary in one plan for Didcot Garden Town and Science Vale.

·       Vale and South share many geographical similarities and have common challenges and pressures.

·      The councils’ ambitions are similar, with a great deal of consensus between the Vale and South Corporate Plans

·       With existing shared working  ...  view the full minutes text for item 161

To consider the head of planning’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of planning’s report on a joint local plan.  This proposed the development of a joint local plan with South Oxfordshire District Council, rather than the two councils working on separate plans. 

The Cabinet member for planning saw many advantages of the proposal.  It would allow the councils to work more closely together, share policies where appropriate, and share resources.  There were many practical reasons or doing so.  Both councils’ geography was similar: rural areas with market towns.  It would allow for better planning of Didcot Garden Town and the Science Vale area.  Both councils’ corporate ambitions were similar, and both had declared climate emergencies.  A joint local plan would also save cost, for example the councils had a shared planning policy team. 

Cabinet agreed, believing that there were sound planning and practical reasons to develop a joint local plan.  Cabinet was reassured that, if necessary, local policies could be included in a joint plan to reflect local needs. 

Legislation allowed the councils to prepare a joint plan.  Cabinet discussed the two methods of doing this:

·         Section 28 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 allowed two or more local planning authorities (district councils) to prepare a joint local plan.  The county council in two-tier areas, such as Oxfordshire, could be part of the plan-preparation process but could not be part of the formal decision-making, as this remained the responsibility of the district councils.  Under Section 28, the final, formal decisions at key local plan stages (consultations, publication, submission, adoption) were made either separately by each council or via a voluntary joint committee. 

·         Section 29 of the 2004 Act enabled the county council to continue to
have a strategic planning role working with the district councils.  This allowed for the decision-making on a joint local plan to be conferred on a joint committee.  Under section 29, the county council would be a formal partner in the joint committee and therefore would have equal membership on that committee. 

Given the context of development plan making across Oxfordshire, with a strategic plan (the Oxfordshire 2050 Plan) already underway, and a shared management and policy team already in place for South Oxfordshire and the Vale, Cabinet considered that a joint local plan should be prepared in accordance with section 28 of the Act.  This would involve either formal decisions at key local plan stages being made separately by each council or via a voluntary joint committee.  Cabinet considered that this should be recommended to Council as the best method to develop a joint local plan.  Scrutiny Committee had preferred the section 28 option also.  Cabinet considered that officers should be authorised to prepare the detailed arrangements.  Cabinet members asked officers to manage the risks by identifying them in the risk register and by preparing contingencies and mitigations should the risks materialise. 

RECOMMENDED to Council on 24 March 2021 to:

(a)     agree, subject to the agreement of South Oxfordshire District Council, the preparation and production of a Joint Local Plan  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91