Agenda item

To consider the head of planning’s report. 

All district councillors have been sent a copy of the Local Plan document separately.  PLEASE BRING THIS WITH YOU TO THE MEETING. 

The Local Plan document can also be found on the council’s website: http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/services-and-advice/planning-and-building/planning-policy/local-plan-2031-part-2

The Scrutiny Committee meets to discuss the Local Plan on Wednesday 20 September 2017.  The committee’s comments will be made available at the Cabinet meeting. 

Cabinet considered the head of planning’s report on the publication version of Local Plan 2031 Part 2.  The report asked Cabinet to recommend Council to approve the publication version for a six-week publicity period under Regulations 19 and 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. 

The Cabinet member for planning reported that this stage of the local plan process looked at the policies surrounding new housing and its location, including the need to address Oxford’s unmet housing need.  The plan included detailed management policies, including those for Didcot Garden Town, together with saved policies from the Local Plan 2011.  Following the Regulation 18 consultation in the spring 2017, the council had assessed the responses and carried out all technical studies to produce this latest version of the local plan.  Following Council’s approval, the plan would be subject to the Regulation 19 consultation to test its soundness, before the plan was submitted to the Secretary of State by February 2018.  The Cabinet member commended the plan to Cabinet. 

Cabinet discussed the recent government proposals for consultation that recalculated the housing requirement using a nationwide formula.  This suggested similar housing numbers required for the Vale but presented the opportunity to reduce Oxford’s unmet housing need.  However, Cabinet concluded that as these were consultation proposals at this stage, and the final proposals would not be available until 2018, the council should proceed with its local plan.  Any delay in the adoption of Local Plan Part 2 would put at risk both Local Plan Part 1 and the council’s housing land supply.  If the government’s final proposals reduced the Vale’s housing requirement the local plan housing numbers could be reviewed at the examination stage in 2018.  If the government’s final proposals suggested that major changes were required, then such changes would be reconsidered by Cabinet before further recommendations were made to Council. 

Cabinet considered that the Oxfordshire Growth Board should be asked to start preparatory work on studies for economic growth that would be required should government housing policy be amended in light of the current consultation.  The Growth Board should also be asked to review Oxford’s unmet housing need at the earliest opportunity. 

Cabinet thanked the officers for their work in producing the local plan. 

RECOMMENDEDto Council on 27 September 2017 to:

(a)      agree the changes to the Local Plan (following recommendations made by Scrutiny Committee) to be set out in the addendum to Council on 27 September 2017, that seek to:

(i)         clarify spatial standards in chapter 3,

(ii)       ensure that the core policies are correctly numbered,

(iii)      ensure that sufficient land is safeguarded to enable a viable public transport and cycle link between the Dalton Barracks site and the proposed park at Lodge Hill,

(iv)      ensure that all registered parks and gardens, in particular the Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee site, are included in appendix I,

(v)       ensure that appendices N and O are complete,

(vi)      review the public transport site report to ensure consistency with the Local Plan;

(b)      note and welcome the publication of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s “Planning for the right homes in the right places: consultation proposals”;

(c)       note that the consultation deadline on the Department for Communities and Local Government’s proposals is 9 November 2017 and that any pause in the adoption of Local Plan 2031 Part 2 would put at risk both Local Plan 2031 Part 1 and the council’s housing land supply;

(d)      that the Publication Version - Local Plan 2031 Part 2: Detailed Policies and Additional Sites, associated documents (Sustainability Appraisal Report, Consultation Statement) and supporting technical evidence and topic papers be made available for a six-week publicity period under Regulations 19 and 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) Regulations 2012;

(e)      following the six-week publicity period, to authorise the Head of Planning in consultation with Cabinet Member for Planning to submit the Publication Version Local Plan 2031 Part 2 and all associated documents, together with a Consultation Statement of the Publication responses to the Secretary of State for independent examination under regulation 20 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) Regulations 2012, unless the outcome of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s final proposals suggest that major changes are required to Local Plan 2031 Part 2 then such changes will be reconsidered by Cabinet before further recommendations are made to Council;

(f)        to authorise the head of planning in consultation with the Cabinet member for planning, to make minor changes and corrections to the Local Plan Part 2 and supporting documents, including minor editorial, typographical and grammatical errors, up to and following plan submission and during examination;

RESOLVED: to

(g)      request the leader of the council to write to Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Environment seeking clarification of the costs of providing transport infrastructure improvements for the Kingston Bagpuize proposed housing allocations;

(h)      request that the Oxfordshire Growth Board starts preparatory work on studies for economic growth that would be required should government housing policy be amended in light of the current consultation, and request that the Growth Board reviews Oxford’s unmet housing need at the earliest opportunity;

(i)        authorise the head of planning, following consultation with the Cabinet member for planning, to respond to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s consultation by welcoming the revised housing figures but recognising that transition arrangements may hamper the council’s progress of Local Plan 2031 Part 2 and that the calculation of the five-year housing land supply should encourage ambition rather than punish planning authorities; and

(j)        authorise the head of planning to write to the Planning Inspectorate to clarify the timetable for the adoption of Local Plan 2031 Part 2 and the need to take into account Oxford’s unmet housing need.