The Chair highlighted that she had received emails from two organisations ahead of the meeting related to the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 item that would be considered later in the agenda – Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Oxfordshire and Need Not Greed Oxfordshire. These emails had been circulated to the Committee for information prior to the start of the meeting.

The Chair advised that she had approved requests for two individuals to speak on the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 item – Cllr Andrew Gant and Suzanne McIvor were both in attendance. The Committee agreed to hear the speakers first, followed by the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 and then return to the agenda as listed.

Suzanne McIvor, who was in attendance on behalf of Need Not Greed Oxfordshire raised the following concerns:

·       There was a lack of opportunity for proper scrutiny afforded to the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 process.

·       The officer summary in the report appeared to give a false impression of the consultation responses.

·       Many organisations across Oxfordshire had called for a review of the Oxfordshire Growth Needs Assessment, but this had not been mentioned in the summary of key findings.

·       The reference to support for a comprehensive review of the Oxfordshire Green Belt was a misleading representation of the consultation responses.

·       Need Not Greed Oxfordshire was so concerned with the summary of key points contained in the report that it had raised a formal complaint with the Future Oxfordshire Partnership.

·       The Oxfordshire Plan 2050 consultation process was long and technical, making it inaccessible to many people. This meant that local groups had to make representations on behalf of residents – but there was no reference in the report to the fact that local groups represented the views of thousands of people. Need Not Greed Oxfordshire therefore felt that the voices of Oxfordshire residents were not being heard and the views of promoters and developers were being given more weight than they should be.

·       It was not clear how, when and by whom key decisions related to the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 would be taken, such as the number of houses to be built. The organisation wanted councillors to be in charge of this decision and take residents’ views on board.

The Scrutiny Officer clarified that the Committee was not being asked to just note the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 report, but that it was being asked to agree any recommendations for consideration by Cabinet.

Cllr Andrew Gant advised that he was speaking on the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 item in his capacity as a City Councillor and supported the previous speaker’s call for proper scrutiny. He advised that the common text of the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 was likely to go out as part of the statutory Regulation 19 consultation around the middle of 2022, after it had been the subject of a vote at each of the five Oxfordshire planning authorities.

He said that a feature of the text would include a choice among the scenarios for growth set out in the Oxfordshire Growth Needs Assessment, which outlined the vision for growth and priorities for the county beyond that which was included in the current Local Plans. Cllr Gant highlighted the importance of councillors and the public having the opportunity to be fully involved in the development of the common text within the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 before it was voted on by the five planning authorities – and that the Committee had a crucial role to play in this.

He added that he was pleased to hear the clarification that the Committee had full authority to make recommendations to Cabinet, but that the Committee had not been given much time to consider the report. He urged the Committee to assure itself that it had received full sight of the evidence base and consider requesting further consideration of the report at a future meeting to allow for proper scrutiny and recommendations if required.

The Chair thanked both speakers for their contributions.

Cllr Andrew Gant left the meeting and did not return.