It has been another dramatic month for the emerging local plan. The Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick MP, issued another legal direction, this time ordering the council to progress the plan through examination, to be adopted by December this year. This followed Oxfordshire County Council voting to take over the plan, should it be asked to do so. The new direction means the plan stays with SODC, but under strict conditions and with the threat of further intervention if deadlines are not met. London’s local plan has just met similar intervention, so we are not alone on this front. I’m not certain this is what was meant by localism!
At SODC we passed a motion asking for resources to explore all opportunities to address the council’s concerns about the plan, particularly on housing to meet local needs, enhanced environmental policies and the council’s declared climate emergency. This will include suggesting alterations as the current plan goes to inspection, as well as via schemes such as the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 and the Oxford-Cambridge Arc which will likely have a major influence on future plans for the area.
I attended a conference on the ‘Arc’ in London, chaired by John Howell MP. While there is still a lack of clarity and leadership on the project, it does provide an opportunity, since the government appears very committed to innovation and leadership on environmental standards and transportation, such as East-West Rail. There were more announcements about the Arc in the recent budget, including that the Expressway is ‘paused’ – not cancelled as some have claimed.
We had a great turnout for our exhibition about the new SODC office building, and lots of useful feedback on its proposed design and features. There’s a project website at https://southoxfordshirehq.wordpress.com/ which will be updated as the project rolls out.
Some people have questioned the need to build a new Council office at all, so it’s worth pointing out that SODC currently spends several hundreds of thousands of pounds each year renting, heating, lighting and maintaining 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park. Any homeowner will appreciate that it’s more financially sensible to own your own home and to invest in making it as cheap to run as possible. We’re very confident that this is a prudent investment in the future financial stability of the Council.
At the time of writing, we have cancelled most upcoming activities and meetings due to the Coronavirus outbreak, with staff working from home and many council departments focused on keeping essential services running in challenging circumstances.
Look after yourselves out there, and your neighbours too.
Robin Bennett
