Planning vision for Thame nears final stages

LATEST statement from South Oxfordshire District Council about its Core Strategy for the future of Thame, to 2027:

At its meeting on Tuesday, November 16, South Oxfordshire District Council?s Cabinet will consider the Local Development Framework Core Strategy, one of the council?s most important planning documents for the next 15 years. Cabinet will decide whether to take the strategy before Full Council and out for a final publication consultation period in December.

The plan includes providing high quality jobs, housing and support for Thame?s town centre. Following three years work and district-wide public consultation exercises, the council has identified the preferred location for development in Thame and where significant change should not take place. The Core Strategy principally identifies a site to the north west of the town (Site F) for around 530 new homes.

This decision follows recent additional consultation work during October, asking residents’ views on two different development site options for the town. (Site D and Site F) The strategy also contains details of the necessary infrastructure needed to support all housing developments that take place.

Following the meeting on November 16, Full Council will consider the Core Strategy at its meeting on Thursday, November 18, and make the final decision on whether to endorse the document.

Angie Paterson, South Oxfordshire District Council?s Cabinet member for planning, said: ?In developing our Core Strategy we have been working under current legislation and where possible anticipated future changes. As a result we have thoroughly investigated and consulted on the options, to arrive at these informed recommendations. Our priority is to help deliver much needed housing, high quality jobs and thriving town centres across the district and we need to have a plan in place to protect the district as we do this.

“The next few weeks will see some important decisions made in moving this strategy forward and laying the foundations for a successful future for South Oxfordshire.?

Notes:

There has been wide consultation on the strategy and residents can see the outcomes on the website at: www.southoxon.gov.uk/corestergy

We are submitting the plan for approval through our scrutiny, cabinet and council committees. Key dates in November are:

Tuesday 9 November ? Scrutiny Committee considers the Core Strategy
Tuesday 16 November ? Cabinet considers the Core Strategy
Thursday 18 November? Full Council considers the Core Strategy

All the above meetings will take place at the council offices in Crowmarsh Gifford.

Speaking at the meetings:

Please note: There are likely to be a large number of speaker requests. When we have the final numbers we will come back to you to confirm how we will manage this process including how long people can speak for. If there are a large number of observers and participants we will have an overflow room available for people to watch the live webcast. Find out more at www.southoxon.gov.uk/webcasts

What happens next?

Subject to council and cabinet approval, the Core Strategy will then need to go through further formal stages, including an examination in public by a planning inspector to test that we are meeting government requirements and local needs. This will take around nine months to complete before the strategy is adopted by the council as policy.

There will be a further public consultation period on the whole plan during December and January. Once the plan is submitted to the secretary of state there will be an examination in public in front of a planning inspector, when local people will have a final opportunity to comment.

The final public consultation is officially called a publication period. At this point residents will have the opportunity to comment on the core strategy, but only under set criteria provided by the planning inspectorate. This consultation stage is more formal than previous stages and if commenting, residents must give reasons under any of four specific criteria and using a specific response form. The criteria must relate to whether the strategy is:

Justified ? is the strategy founded on robust credible evidence
Effective ? is the strategy deliverable
Consistent with regional and national policies and;
Legally compliant ? how we’ve prepared the strategy – in that we have followed the correct procedures for the development of the strategy.

SOURCE: Press release