The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services is submitting a report to the City Executive Board on 16 October 2018 to recommend that Council approves the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, if no matters are raised that materially impact upon the Plan strategy, to submit the Submission Draft Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for formal examination.

The report and relevant appendices are attached. Please note that Appendices 2 i, ii, iii, iv and the Policies Map will be published as a separate supplements.

Councillor Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Transport, will present the report.

Recommendation:

Subject to the decision of the City Executive Board on 16 October 2018, Council is recommended to resolve to:

1.     Approve  the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation;

2.     Approve all the supporting statutory documentation that includes the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulation Assessment, Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP), Equalities Impact Assessment, and Options Consultation Report;

And note that the City Executive Board resolved to: 

3.     Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document, IDP, Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment, and to agree the final publication style draft  version before publication;

4.     Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document as a material consideration in determining planning applications; and

5.     Authorise the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory  Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after publication and after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any minor changes to the document deemed necessary as a result of the consultation, and then to formally submit the Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for examination.

Councillor Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Transport, moved the recommendations which were adopted on being seconded and put to the vote.

Council resolved to:

1.               Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation;

2.               Approve all the supporting statutory documentation that includes the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulation Assessment, Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP), Equalities Impact Assessment, and Options Consultation Report;

3.               Authorise the Head of Planning Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document, IDP, Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment, and to agree the final publication style draft  version before publication;

4.               Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document as a material consideration in determining planning applications;

5.               Authorise the Head of Planning Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after publication and after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any minor changes to the document deemed necessary as a result of the consultation, and then to formally submit the Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for examination.

Council considered a report of the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services, submitted to the City Executive Board 16 October 2018 to recommend that Council approves the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation and, subject to the outcome of the consultation, if no matters are raised that materially impact upon the Plan strategy, to submit the Submission Draft Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for formal examination.

Councillor Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Transport, presented the report.  He began by placing on record his thanks to the many officers in the Planning Policy team, especially Sarah Harrison and Amanda Ford, for their professionalism and diligent hard work which had delivered a draft Local Plan of such a high quality.  He also thanked the Scrutiny Committee and Scrutiny Housing Panel for their contribution, in the course of several meetings, to the emerging plan. Finally he paid tribute to Patsy Dell, the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services, for her contribution and leadership over the past three years.  Council echoed these sentiments.

For clarification he advised Council that, during the debate, they should refer to the following documents:

·       the officer report and chapters 1 – 7 in the main Council agenda pack

·       the appendices set out in the Council agenda supplement 1

·       the briefing note which contained a list of changes from the City Executive Board meeting and a revised chapter 8 (which superseded the earlier versions contained in the main Council agenda pack and supplement 2)

To set the context for the debate he quoted from the foreword to the Local Plan as set out on page 15 of the agenda pack.

Councillor Gant, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group, noted that detailed and specific comment by members had been over the course of the last year as the plan evolved from the preferred options document.  He acknowledged that not all of the suggestions put forward by his group had been accepted and said that overall he welcomed the draft document as a proportionate and sensible plan for Oxford.

During debate Council highlighted a number of points including, but not confined to:

·       the Local Plan should be considered in the context of a wider suite of documents which set out the Council’s strategy and vision for the future of the city of Oxford

·       the challenge of achieving an appropriate prioritisation and balance between allocated housing sites and category 2 employment sites (Policy E1: Employment sites)

·       that the Local Plan recognised that as life expectancy in Oxford was projected to rise there would be an increased demand for appropriate accommodation (Policy H11: Older persons and specialist and supported living accommodation)

·       any increased risk of flooding as a result of new development in the city would be addressed as part of the planning application process (Policy RE 3: Flood risk management)

Council recorded its thanks to the Board Member for his contribution to the draft Local Plan.

Councillor Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning and Transport, moved the recommendations which were adopted on being seconded and put to the vote.

Council resolved to:

1.               Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document for public consultation;

2.               Approve all the supporting statutory documentation that includes the Sustainability Appraisal, Habitats Regulation Assessment, Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP), Equalities Impact Assessment, and Options Consultation Report;

3.               Authorise the Head of Planning Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any necessary editorial corrections to the document, IDP, Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment, and to agree the final publication style draft  version before publication;

4.               Approve the Oxford Local Plan 2036 Proposed Submission Document as a material consideration in determining planning applications;

5.               Authorise the Head of Planning Services (or any officer acting in that capacity), after publication and after consultation with the Executive Board Member, to make any minor changes to the document deemed necessary as a result of the consultation, and then to formally submit the Oxford Local Plan 2036 to the Secretary of State for examination.