Oxfordshire Plan 2050 – Why care about the future of our County?
3rd August 2021
The latest consultation on the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 has now launched and runs until 8 October.
Why should you care what Oxfordshire will look like in 30 years’ time?
This is an opportunity for older residents to leave a legacy for future generations and younger residents to have a say and live through the changes.
The Oxfordshire Plan will set the development framework for the county for the next generation. It will affect all Oxfordshire residents: either directly, through development; or indirectly, through impacts on services, infrastructure, and our countryside.
CPRE Oxfordshire wants to ensure the Oxfordshire Plan only commits our future generations to a level of growth that can be accommodated without undue damage to our countryside and reflects the County’s rural character. That means guiding development to the right places and building high-quality compact housing to make the best use of scarce land.
How can generated growth be absorbed throughout Oxfordshire?
Overall, there is a lot of land already released in Local Plans, therefore, CPRE Oxfordshire believe we should be looking at how such sites can be maximised before sacrificing yet more countryside.
How much growth should there be?
The consultation document sets out three growth scenarios for 2020-2050:
- Standard Method ‘Adjusted’– 102,000 houses
- Economic Growth Model 1, described as ‘Business as Usual’, – 123,000 houses (2 more Oxfords)
- Economic Growth Model 2, described as ‘Transformational’, – 153,000 houses (2.5 more Oxfords)1.
All options would be challenging, with the lowest – Standard Method – being the least likely to cause unacceptable harm.
We urge you to respond to the consultation it is our best chance of having a say and influencing both the outcomes of this Plan and the OxCam Arc proposals.
What level of growth is consistent with protecting our environment and rural character?
It’s time to get the balance right.
** CPRE Oxfordshire has produced an ‘Initial Views’ Briefing to help navigate the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 and a Ten Minute Response Guide if you’d like to respond but don’t’ know where to start! **
Both can be downloaded below.
Visit the Oxfordshire Open Thought website to have your say on Oxfordshire’s future.
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1 OP2050 says that 85,000 houses are already accounted for in existing Local Plans (78,000 within the Local Plan periods, plus a further 7,000 already allowed for beyond this e.g., Culham, 1,400 after 2035 and Grove Airfield, 1,000 after 2031).
This therefore leaves a balance to 2050 of:
- Standard Method Adjusted –16,000 houses
- Growth Model 1 – 38,000 houses
- Growth Model 2 – 67,000 houses.