CPRE Oxfordshire has long held concerns about the South East Plan. These have recently been accentuated by news that the numbers of houses is to be increased above the levels in the draft plan, while at the same time the number of affordable houses planned for central Oxfordshire is to be cut. The proposals will lead to increased urban sprawl while failing to tackle the problems of housing affordability, and will lead to worsened congestion that will ultimately constipate the county's economy.

News Update:

July 17 2008: Government target for new homes in Oxfordshire goes up to 55,200, including 4,000 in the Green Belt.

According to the Government’s proposed changes to the South East Plan published on July 17th, Oxfordshire is to get a substantial share of increased rates of housing development across the board for the South East region.

Overall the new targets mean the County will get a minimum of 55,200 net additional dwellings by 2026 (up from 47,200 allocated in the draft South East Plan); an annual average of 2,760 dwellings each year. But the increase will be concentrated on Central Oxfordshire with its share going up by almost 20% - from 34,000 to 40, 860. A “selective review” of Oxford’s Green Belt will see an urban extension south of Grenoble Road of at least 4,000 houses.

Such high levels of housing development are not sustainable. The consequent pressures on the land, including the risk of losing large areas of valued countryside and Green Belt, would be intolerable.

• See CPRE Oxfordshire press release.
• See CPRE National Office press release.
• See SEERA press release.
• See Oxfordshire County Council press release.
• See Government's Proposed Changes to the draft South East Plan.
• See CLG press release.
• See Cherwell District Council press release.

June 26 2008: Figures published by NHPAU suggest annual average house building rates for the South East ranging from 37,800 to 49,700.

In a press release on 26 June, the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) said new figures calling on the South East to consider building up to 50,000 homes a year are simply out of step with reality.

Assembly Chairman Cllr Keith Mitchell CBE says advice published by Government advisers - the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU) - runs contrary to the Assembly's own evidence base and is a clear attempt to undermine democratic decisions on critical planning matters.

• See the SEERA press release at: http://www.southeast-ra.gov.uk/
• For more information see NHPAU website: http://www.communities.gov.uk/nhpau/

2007:

• The Worst of Both Worlds: Government inspectors cut the level of affordable houses planned for Central Oxfordshire by nearly 1,000. 7 September 2007.
• CPRE SE eBulletin on the implications of the Inspectors' Report for the South East: 5 September 2007
• CPRE Oxfordshire Briefing on the Inspectors' Report: We are rapidly moving towards two Oxfordshires: "Urban Oxfordshire" based on the Plan's Central Oxfordshire Subregion, and "Rural Oxfordshire". 29 August 2007
• Planners to create two Oxfordshires: Oxfordshire to get 56,400 more houses, 4,000 in the Green Belt. 29 August 2007
• SE Regional Assembly to be abolished, South East Plan to be urgently reviewed. 31 July 2007.

The South East Plan

The South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) based in Guildford is a collection of 106 delegates from County and District Councils, and public and voluntary bodies. SEERA is responsible for the South East Spatial Strategy, known as the South East Plan (though responsibility will transfer to the South East England Development Agency when SEERA is abolished).

The draft South East Plan was subject to a four month public inquiry which ended in March 2006. The Inspectors' findings were published on 29 August 2007. They contained bad news for Oxfordshire. The Inspectors raised targets for housing by 11% across the South East, and by 18% in Central Oxfordshire:

• Central Oxfordshire will get 40,100 houses instead of the 34,000 planned, up 6,100 (17.9%). This is a growth of 2,005 dwellings a year.
• Affordable housing in Central Oxfordshire will be cut by 960 houses against previous plans.
• The Rest of Oxfordshire will get 14,500 houses instead of 13,200, up 1,300 (9.8%).
• The South East will get 640,100 houses instead of 578,080, up 62,020 (10.7%).
• There will be a “highly focused selective” review of the Green Belt to allow for an urban extension of 4,000 houses south of Grenoble Road.
• The Inspectors assume that a new water supply will be provided through an Upper Thames Reservoir.
• The Inspectors say that housing levels cannot wait for infrastructure to be built as "this would be unhelpful to investment".

The South East Plan: Housing

The Southeast England Regional Assembly has faced relentless demands from government bodies to build unacceptable numbers of houses across the South East and Oxfordshire. The draft plan contained the uncomfortable news that Oxfordshire would get 47,200 new houses over the next twenty years. The plan has recently been reviewed by government appointed inspectors and they have concluded that the county must take even more housing.

Even more uncomfortably, the plan is not finalised. The government has made it clear that the Inspectors' report predates the policies in the Housing Green Paper which called for 3 million new homes by 2020. The Secretary of State for the Environment, currently Hazel Blears, will make the final decision.

Timetable

The Panel report is now with Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State. She aims to publish her proposed changes towards the end of the year. There will then be a twelve week period of public consultation on the proposed changes. Following that consultation, the Secretary of State is expecting to publish the final South East Plan around Autumn 2008.

It may then be immediately reviewed under proposals to abolish the Regional Assemblies.

Further Information

• Summary of the South East Plan
• South East Plan website
• Examination in Public website
• SEERA website

CPRE Reaction and Briefings

• CPRE Oxfordshire's Response to the Draft Plan
• CPRE Oxfordshire's Response to the County Council Consultation. 24 October 2005
• CPRE Briefing on the Examination in Public. 23 November 2006
• CPRE Oxfordshire Press Release on EiP. 28 November 2006
• CPRE Kent press release on the EiP and water. 27 November 2006
• CPRE Briefing on Oxfordshire at the EiP (1). 26 February 2007
• CPRE Briefing on Oxfordshire at the EiP (2). 6 March 2007
• Will the South East Plan flood even more housing into Oxfordshire? The county may get 10,000 more homes than planned. 22 August 2007
• Will the South East Plan deliver sustainable development? CPRE Briefing on the EiP Inspector's report to published next week. 16 August 2007

CPRE Oxfordshire submissions to the EiP

• 8Ei: Central Oxfordshire Role and Economy
• 8Eii: Central Oxfordshire Housing and Greenbelt
• 8Eiii: Central Oxfordshire Infrastructure and Implementation
• 9C: Rest of Oxfordshire
• All CPRE submissions to the EiP (other South East counties and general topics)