Most of the things in the agreed Local Plan for the Vale could be overridden by a new Oxfordshire plan released this week.

The six Oxfordshire Councils and the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OXLEP) agreed a £215m funding package (the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal) with Government in March 2018.

Under the terms of the Deal the councils have committed to producing an Oxfordshire Joint Statutory Spatial Plan (JSSP) for submission to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination by 31 March 2020 and adoption by 31 March 2021.

The JSSP will include the housing target for Oxfordshire and a deliverable programme of housebuilding to 2050.

Like the Strategy Housing Market Assessment, the JSSP will identify the number of new market and affordable homes, the level of economic growth and related infrastructure that is needed across Oxfordshire, but it will do more than that.

The JSSP’s strategic policies will cover the following matters:

• County wide housing targets
• Affordable housing requirements
• Identification of strategic growth areas
• Strategic housing trajectory
• Gypsy, Traveller and boat dwellers, needs and distribution
• County wide employment growth figures
• The spatial dimension of the Local Industrial Strategy
• Retail hierarchy
• Green Belt strategy and policies
• Biodiversity and natural environment
• Placemaking and built environment
• Health and wellbeing
• Green infrastructure
• Strategic environmental allocations
• Transport strategy
• Infrastructure strategy
• Energy framework

According to the Oxfordshire Plan website, the first draft document for the Plan was published on January 15 and over the next few weeks will go before the executives/ cabinets of all four districts, the city and the county council.

From Monday 11 February until Monday 25 March we can read the first draft document and leave our comments online on the consultation website https://bit.ly/2I35RnG (https://oxfordshireplan.inconsult.uk/consult.ti)

We’ll try to provide some comments over the next few weeks.

Please make sure that you have your say!

There will be a bus roadshow at the Beacon in Wantage on Tuesday 19 February from 9.00am - 11.30am. Don’t miss it!