Agenda item

Dr Les Clyne made the following statement on housing.

“One way of assessing the trend in the overall demand for housing in the Vale is to look at the figures for those on the Housing register.  Mr Hamid Khan, Interim Head of Housing, has kindly given me the following figures.  As of April 2015, 1,265 households were on Bands 1-3 of the Vale Housing register, and 2,288 were on Band 4.  A year later, April 2016, 1,143 households were on Bands 1-3, and 2,520 were on Band 4.  Thus over this period it appears that the Vale is tackling the more pressing problems for housing in the Vale (Bands 1-3), but is seeing an increase in the general demand for housing (Band 4).  Overall there has been an increase of 110 in the total on Bands 1-4. 

Thus the backdrop to the supply side of the housing is an increase in demand.  The Grove airfield development is due to deliver 2,500 housing units but it has been severely delayed.  The sooner the current impasse on this development is overcome, namely the signing of the Section 106 agreement, the sooner the Vale can see a major boost to the supply side of its housing commitments.”

Dr Les Clyne asked the following question of Councillor Matthew Barber, Leader of the council.

"Grove airfield development - the design work for the Grove airfield development was completed over three years ago. When is it expected that all parties will have signed the section 106 agreement?" 

Councillor Matthew Barber responded that talks were ongoing with the developers. He hoped to achieve a resolution by October 2016 but this could not be guaranteed as the matter was outside the control of the council.

Dr Andrew Pritchard of North Hinksey Parish Council and Mr Tim Comyn, Chairman, Sparsholt Parish Council made statements on the proposed constitution changes to planning set out at agenda item 9. The following points were raised:

·         welcomed the proposal to involve parish councils at an earlier stage of the planning process;

·         the current system worked well;

·         under the proposed scheme parish councils would need to hold more frequent meetings to meet the district council deadlines;and

·         under the proposed scheme district councillors would need to attend parish council planning committee meetings to ensure they were informed of the parish council comments. 

The chairman thanked the speakers for their statements and informed them that their points would be considered at agenda item 9.

Naomi Richardson made a statement and presented a petition on Abbey Meadows (although she noted that the petition was outdated as a result of the district council’s decision to replace the swimming pool).

She stated that members on the Abbey Meadow Consultation Discussion Group and those that have signed the two petitions she had initiated were delighted that theoutdoor pool was going to be replaced. She noted that the press release stated that: the district council will continue to engage with the wider community and special interest groups on the detail of both the Abbey Meadow project and the new plans to replace the swimming pool. She hoped that this would be the case and provided some suggestions for the new facility including:

·         A beach area with a handrail to allow toddlers to use it and to allow access for those with reduced mobility;

·         At least the same size as the current pool;

·         The deep end should be at least as deep as the current pool;

·         Lane swimming should still be available;

·         The pool should have suitable areas for lessons, for little kids and older kids;

·         The lining should be durable, easily cleaned and not cut kids’ feet;

·         The lining should differentiate between floor, sides and edges to help those with impaired vision;

·         The heating system should be economic and sustainable;

·         The surround should be a low maintenance surface, not tiles which break all the time.

The chairman thanked Naomi Richardson for her address and undertook to pass her petition to the Cabinet member for leisure.

Julie Mabberley, Campaign Manager of Wantage and Grove Campaign Group, and Ms Annie Thomas, Secretary of SPADE, on behalf of Need not Greed Oxfordshire made statements on the draft Strategic Economic Plan covering the following points:

·         The Wantage and Grove Campaign Group (with over 900 members) are concerned about the growth of the population of the area.

·         Whilst not against any development these should be proportionate and sustainable, protect the rural environment and the infrastructure should enhance and improve quality of life for its residents.

·         In response to a question at the February Council meeting Councillor Barber confirmed that there would be wider consultation in May before the Local Enterprise Partnership Board ratification in June yet the Refresh of the Oxfordshire Strategic Economic Plan was not on the agenda of any meeting between February and now and is now simply to “note the response”.

·         Would expect Council to have noted the “Report on responses to the Refresh” which was informed by three public workshops and bilateral discussions with the local authorities and other key stakeholders yet no record of any bilateral discussions with the Vale of White Horse District Council were reported to this meeting.

·         only two members of the business community had submitted written responses.

·         Of the 262 responses received, the vast majority believe that “the LEP is:

o   an unaccountable non?elected body

o   aggressively driving growth

o   responsible for unrealistic and unachievable housing and jobs

o   figures contained in the SHMA

o   heavily influencing the Local Plan process which will result in new development that will destroy Oxfordshire’s environment and communities.”

·         73 per cent of respondents were concerned about the level of growth proposed but no review of the level of growth is being considered as part of the refresh.

·         The consultation had failed to address the concerns raised.

·         Sought an assurance that the final draft of the document would be the subject of a comprehensive review by the council and take into account the views and concerns of the communities it represents.

The chairman thanked the speakers for their statements and informed them that their points would be considered at agenda item 11.