Agenda item

Statements, petitions and questions from the public relating to matters affecting council.

Any statements, petitions and questions from the public under standing order 32 will be made or presented at the meeting.

 

Minutes:

Council received three requests to address the meeting on agenda item 11 – OxLEP Strategic Economic Plan.   

 

A.           The following statement was circulated to all councillors in advance of the meeting on behalf of Need not Greed Oxfordshire. Mr Steven Corrigan, Democratic Services Manager, read out the question.

 

We welcome the decision taken at the Vale and South Joint Scrutiny Committee meeting, endorsed by Cabinet last week that the revised SEP Refresh should be considered at Full Council. We have for some time demanded that our locally elected representatives have the opportunity to consider this most important of issues. Today, local councillors have the chance to engage in robust debate on the revised SEP Refresh. We urge you take this final opportunity before the SEP Refresh is signed off, to seriously consider the impact that this plan will have on the future of Oxfordshire.

 

Need not Greed Oxfordshire believe the time has come for our local authorities to take full responsibility for the overall growth figures in the revised SEP 2016.

 

We are deeply concerned at the ‘pass-the-parcel’ game being played by OxLEP and our district and county councils, with each blaming the other for the inflated and unrealistic targets for employment and housing.

 

We believe this Plan sets very damaging and unrealistic growth targets which would radically change Oxfordshire’s communities and environment - today, you - our elected representatives, have the opportunity to have your say.

 

  • Do you genuinely believe we can create 85,000 jobs by 2031?
  • Do you genuinely believe we can build 100,000 houses by 2031?  Are you prepared for the consequences when this target isn’t met and we see an increase in the speculative development that is already blighting so many of our communities?
  • Do you genuinely think the development currently proposed will solve the affordable housing issues we have in the County?
  • Do you genuinely think that Oxfordshire, the most rural county in the south-east, is the right place to accommodate a 30% increase in population by 2031?

 

If your answer to any of these questions is NO, we urge you to speak out against OxLEP’s Strategic Economic Plan as currently drafted at today’s meeting.

 

Need not Greed Oxon want to see an alternative approach to growth in our county.

 

We are calling for a review of the economic growth figures and by association the housing figures, for the county outlined in the revised SEP Refresh, in the light of:

 

  1. The implications of Brexit.
  2. The social and environmental constraints - ie not just ‘how much growth can we get’ but also ‘how much growth can our infrastructure, services and environment absorb’.
  3. A re-consideration of the priorities for action - ie how to provide affordable housing for existing local residents, rather than seeking to attract ever more people into the area making the jobs versus housing balance worse.
  4. Genuine public consultation on the future vision for Oxfordshire.

 

As our elected representative, will you take a stand today and help force re-consideration of these overly aggressive and unrealistic growth targets that make no allowances for Brexit and that take little account of environmental and social impacts?

 

 

B.        Julie Mabberley, Campaign Manager, Wantage and Grove Campaign Group addressed the Council as follows:

 

We note that item 11 on the agenda tonight is the OxLEP Strategic Economic Plan and that this includes an excellent Cabinet report on the plan.

 

In paragraph nine of this report it points out that:

“The SEP refresh document “focuses on strategy rather than the details of delivery”. However, the SEP refresh document would have been stronger if;
? more detail had been provided to indicate how the strategy intends to exploit opportunities and respond to threats,”

 

As the impact of Brexit could be a major threat to this plan, we would encourage you to request that the refresh include more details on how the plan could respond to this threat.

 

Paragraph 10 lists a number of issues that the proposed final version of the SEP does not fully address. We encourage you to present these issues to OxLEP and to withhold support for the SEP unless they are addressed.

 

The plan is based on growth forecasts involving an additional 88,000 jobs and 100,000 new homes. Unless the issues listed in paragraph 10 are addressed it is difficult to see how these growth forecasts can be achieved.

 

OxLEP is responsible for developing the Oxfordshire economy and its economic plan should, as a minimum, demonstrate how the growth in the economy is to be achieved.

 

According to its own website “OxLEP has made considerable progress in strengthening Oxfordshire's economy by establishing robust and effective relationships between businesses, academia and the public sector” so as your report states it is very disappointing that so few businesses have commented on the refresh. Without the support of a large proportion of the businesses in Oxfordshire and their commitment to growth it is difficult to see how this plan could be achieved.

 

Even the Vale4business is conspicuous by its absence in response to the plan. We encourage you to ask for evidence that the businesses with which OxLEP has such “robust relationships” support the plan.

 

After all, the entire basis of the emerging Local Plan is based on the growth forecasts in the SEP and without the business growth many of the homes already approved or applied for will not be built. As you know, the 5 year supply is crucial to us having control of the development plan for the Vale.

 

If the economy doesn’t develop at the speed required then the ability for unscrupulous developers to obtain planning permissions because of a lack of sufficient homes being built to provide a five year supply will further blight our green and pleasant land.

 

Please take the SEP seriously and ensure that business support for the forecasts exist.

 

C.           Mrs Joyce Hutchinson addressed Council. She welcomed the council’s response to the SEP. She raised the following points:

·         Need to support employment across Oxfordshire and invest in enterprise.

·         Oxford City Council is unable to deliver housing.

·         Infrastructure is currently inadequate – building more houses without the necessary infrastructure will compound the existing problems.

·         Houses are required to provide accommodation for key workers.

 

 

The Chairman thanked the speakers for their contributions and advised that the points raised would be considered at agenda item 11.

 

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