Cabinet on 8 June will consider the report of the Head of Planning Services and the Oxford Local Plan 2036, and will decide whether to recommend that Council agrees to adopt the Oxford Local Plan 2036.

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, will introduce the report and the Local Plan and move the recommendations.

Recommendations: That Council resolves to:

1.     Adopt the Oxford Local Plan 2036 (set out at Appendix 1 to this report), which incorporates the Inspectors’ Main Modifications (set out at Appendix 3 to this report) and the City Council’s Additional Modifications (set out at Appendix 4 to this report) as part of the statutory development plan for the area as listed in Appendix 6;

2.     Adopt the updates to the Oxford City Adopted Policies Map in line with the Oxford Local Plan 2036 set out at Appendix 5 to this report; and

3.     Authorise the Head of Planning Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, to finalise the necessary documents to support adoption including the Adoption Statement (draft as Appendix 7) and Sustainability Statement (draft as Appendix 8) and to make such minor editorial corrections to the adopted Local Plan (Appendix 1) and Policies Map (Appendix 5) as deemed necessary ahead of publication. This will include a final desktop published version of the Oxford Local Plan 2036 and adopted policies map.

Note: Any amendments from Councillors must be sent to the Head of Law and Governance via democraticservices@oxford.gov.uk and must arrive no later than 10.00am Friday 5 June 2020.

Council considered the report of the Head of Planning Services submitted to Cabinet on 8 June 2020 recommending the adoption of the Oxford Local Plan 2036; the Local Plan documents appended to that report; and the recommendations from the Cabinet meeting.

Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Cabinet Member for Planning & Housing Delivery, spoke to the report by first thanking officers, with particular reference to those in the Planning Team, for their work over the last 4 years in getting the plan to its current stage. He noted that the Planning Inspector had also taken time at the end of the hearings to thank officers  for the excellent and detailed presentation of evidence and knowledge they had brought to the process which was a tribute to all those involved.

He proposed that Council adopt the Local Plan and supporting documents and agree the 4 recommendations proposed by Cabinet and circulated before the Council meeting. This was seconded by Councillor Tanner.

Councillor Wolff proposed and Councillor Gant seconded an amendment to add a further recommendation 5 to read:

(Council resolves to) REQUEST that this revised timeline for the Local Plan review be taken as an opportunity to accelerate the adoption of new thinking on how to respond to the Climate Emergency, in particular the recommendations generated by the Citizens Assembly, the Climate Emergency Review Group (to be considered by Cabinet in October 2020 at the earliest) and the expressed intent, by local and national Government, to 'build back better' post-COVID-19.

The Head of Law and Governance drew Council’s attention to the previously circulated advice from the Head of Planning that Council does not include this amendment as it could undermine the Local Plan.

After being debated, and put to the vote by means of a roll call, the amendment was declared lost.

Council considered the 4 recommendations from Cabinet. After being debated and put to the vote by means of a roll call the Cabinet recommendations, including the adoption of the Oxford Local Plan 2036 and associated updates to the policies map, were declared carried.

Council resolved to

1.    Adopt the Oxford Local Plan 2036 (set out at Appendix 1 to the officer’s report), which incorporates the Inspectors’ Main Modifications (set out at Appendix 3 to this report) and the City Council’s Additional Modifications (set out at Appendix 4 to the report) as part of the statutory development plan for the area as listed in Appendix 6;

2.    Adopt the updates to the Oxford City Adopted Policies Map in line with the Oxford Local Plan 2036 set out at Appendix 5 to the report;

3.    Authorise the Head of Planning Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery, to finalise the necessary documents to support adoption including the Adoption Statement (draft as Appendix 7) and Sustainability Statement (draft as Appendix 8) and to make such minor editorial corrections to the adopted Local Plan (Appendix 1) and Policies Map (Appendix 5) as deemed necessary ahead of publication. This will include a final desktop published version of the Oxford Local Plan 2036 and adopted policies map; and

4.    Note that, as previously outlined in earlier discussions of the Oxford Local Plan 2036 in Scrutiny, Cabinet and Full Council, a timetable for the next Local Plan which is aligned to the latest Oxfordshire Plan 2050 timetable and co-ordinated with the Local Plan timetables of other District Councils in Oxfordshire will be brought to Cabinet in July 2020 – and Scrutiny as required – as part of the updated Local Development Scheme.