South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034 - have your say
7 January - 18 February 2019
 
South Oxfordshire District Council has been working on a new Local Plan to shape the future of our district. Following extensive consultation and gathering of evidence, we have now prepared an updated Local Plan which we are ready to publish prior to this being submitted for independent examination.
 
You may be aware that in May 2018, councillors asked officers to reassess all main sites available for housing in the district. Since then, officers have been reassessing the main sites that were allocated in the last draft of the Local Plan, along with sites promoted to us and the sites that were previously considered but weren’t taken forward. The outcome of this assessment has fed into this updated Local Plan.

Before we submit the plan for examination, we are carrying out a six-week publicity period. This is formally referred to as the “Regulation 19 publicity period”. After the publicity period, we will submit the plan, evidence and responses received directly to the Secretary of State, who will appoint a Planning Inspector to carry out an independent examination.
 
You can download a briefing note that explains the key changes to the Local Plan here.
 
At this stage, we have to ask you to respond to very specific questions. Partly based on the answers given, the inspector will make a decision on whether our Local Plan is “sound”, “legally compliant” and if it complies with the “duty to cooperate”. These terms are explained further in our guidance note and YouTube video.  The planning inspector will give more weight to comments that relate to these points, but you are free to comment on any aspect of the plan and evidence.
 
Viewing the documents
 
You can view the Local Plan and supporting evidence on our website. Hard copies of the key documents only are available during usual opening hours at:

• our council office at 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4SB - from 8.30am to 5pm Monday to Thursday, and 8.30am to 4.30pm Fridays
• all public libraries in South Oxfordshire during their usual opening hours
• Abbey House Abingdon, Abbey Sports Centre Berinsfield, Barton Leisure Centre, Chalgrove Post Office, Clifton Hampden Post Office, Cornerstone Didcot, via Culham Parish Council (contact Councillor Gibbs on 01235 523679 or email grgibbs@btinternet.com), Didcot Wave Leisure Centre, Leys Pools and Leisure Centre (Blackbird Leys), the Holiday Inn Grenoble Road, Oxford City Council St Aldate’s and the Talking Shop Café Sandford on Thames, all during their usual opening hours. 

Drop-in events
 
We are hosting a series of drop-in events across the district to help explain the process and how to submit your comments.  The drop-in events are not site specific and will all provide the same information, so you can attend any of the following:  
 

Commenting on the plan
 
You need to provide comments using the prescribed form before 5pm on 18 February 2019. Please be advised that we cannot accept late responses, nor grant any extensions. Responses can be made in one of the following ways:

• complete our online comment form http://survey.southandvale.gov.uk/s/LocalPlan2034/?m=34908834xhnx0
• download a comment form from our website and email the completed version to planning.policy@southoxon.gov.uk;
• collect a comment form from one of the locations listed above and post to Planning Policy, SODC, 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4SB; or
• attend one of our drop-in events. 

Thank you in advance for your participation and we hope to see you at one of our drop-in events.  If you have any questions, please contact the planning policy team on 01235 422600 or email planning.policy@southoxon.gov.uk
 
Kind regards
 
Adrian Duffield
Head of Planning