Announcements by:

1.     The Lord Mayor

2.     The Sheriff

3.     The Leader of the Council (who may with the permission of the Lord Mayor invite other councillors to make announcements)

4.     The Chief Executive, Chief Finance Officer, Monitoring Officer

The Lord Mayor noted today was the anniversary of the terrorist attack in Israel one year ago and acknowledged all those who had lost their lives since in Gaza and Lebanon. He announced he had attended a united peace vigin at Bonn Square on 6 October 2024, an event which gave witness to Oxford's desire for peace. He had also attended several events including the celebration of Oxford United promotion during his first week in office, a gathering in Botley with individuals providing free nutritious food across Oxfordshire together with former Cllr Paul Murray and Gary Smith, son of former Cllr Karen Smith. Finally, he expressed his pleasure in receiving a gift from the British section of the non-resident Indian Welfare Society which would remain in the Town Hall to serve as memento for cycling city, twice visited by Muhammad Ghandi.

Deputy Lord Mayor announced he had attended two events in the past two weeks, including a charity event organised by Play2Give to support Oxford Children's Hospital and the annual Nepalese Dashain Celebration bringing to light the city's diverse community.

The Sheriff went to roundup livestock in Port Meadow over a week ago and reported that no cattle tested positive for TB. He thanked Cllr Sandelson for joining. Noted it was a damp affair but that it should be honoured and hoped for a drier event in the next year.  

The Leader of the Council announced that Cllr Mary Clarkson would continue as the Council's Heritage Champion, working with Cllr Louise Upton. Cllr Mark Lygo was appointed as the Council’s Armed Forces and Veterans Champion and would work with Cllr Brown on the Oxfordshire Civilian Military Partnership and with Cllr Linda Smith on broader community work.

The Leader of the Council provided a statement on the delay to the Local Plan:

Since we last met, we have heard the devastating news that our Local Plan will have to be delayed. We are alarmed and extremely disappointed by the recommendation to withdraw our Local Plan 2040 from public examination. We are still digesting the information and deciding on next steps.

The planning inspectors have failed to grasp the seriousness of Oxford’s housing crisis and the number of new homes we need to tackle this crisis – and don’t appear to have heeded the clear message from government which requires all councils to up their housing delivery ambitions. 

The logical outcome of the inspectors’ conclusions will be a delay to proactively planning for the homes we need. The reality is that while the City Council are builders, there are others elsewhere who are blockers. Waiting for a situation where all councils in Oxfordshire are agreed on housing numbers and cross-boundary matters is just not realistic. That’s why thankfullly our new government is planning the reintroduction of mandatory housing delivery targets.

Our approach hasn’t changed since our last successful local plan. Yet we are being told that there are no exceptional circumstances and we should now use the current ‘standard method’ - already rejected by the new government - for working out how many homes we need. This would mean fewer homes being built, and far fewer than we actually need. This is a U-turn from our Local Plan 2036, where inspectors agreed Oxfordshire’s exceptional circumstances justified the need for more homes. 

The current standard method is not fit for purpose and flies in the face of the government’s policy intention to overhaul a broken national planning system and deliver 1.5 million homes. The current standard method does not even take account of population increases that have already happened in Oxford and across Oxfordshire recorded in the census. Using this discredited method to calculate how many homes we need would make the city’s housing crisis worse.

We also strongly dispute the finding we have not met the duty to cooperate. We have a longstanding history of working collaboratively with neighbouring councils and other stakeholders on planning issues affecting Oxfordshire - including during the preparation of this plan.

This finding relates to a single five-month period in 2022 after the collapse of the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 that involved all five district councils. Let us not forget, that plan was collapsed because South Oxfordshire and the Vale of White Horse chose to withdraw their co-operation.  In the subsequent period, we were working with Cherwell District Council to commission the Housing and Employment Needs Assessment (HENA) as a joint evidence base for our respective plans.

Oxfordshire’s other districts declined the invitation to take part in this project. However, they were offered the opportunity to engage with the findings of the work.

The duty to cooperate is not a duty to agree. Nor should it be a charter for those who object the loudest to be able to block the building of desperately needed homes.

While the Council strongly disputes the inspectors' findings as it is confident it engaged appropriately with neighbouring councils, the national planning framework gives no way for us to appeal the inspectors’ findings.

We also think the inspectors have failed to read the room on planning reform. The new government intends to reintroduce mandatory housing targets and bring in a new way of calculating how many homes are needed. National consultation has just closed on proposals that would see a 59% increase in the number of homes that would need to be delivered in Oxfordshire which we welcome. This will help us get closer to building the new homes so desparately needed locally.

We will continue to explore all options open to us to ensure that we can build the houses that Oxford so desparately needs. We continue to wish to be builders of homes, not blockers and are proud of our record on building homes, particularly council and other genuinely affordable homes.

The Leader of the Council also gave a statement marking one year since the 7 October 2023 attacks:

We are meeting today on 7 October 2024. We are a year on from the attacks on 7 October last year which triggered such devastating loss of life across the region of the Middle East.

Last night we held our second peace vigil jointly with the Oxfordshire Council of Faiths. We came together in large numbers, as we did last November. Sadly, since that time, countless further lives have been lost, particularly in Gaza. And now conflict has spread, not ceased. Many, many families are mourning the loss of loved ones. Terrible injuries have changed lives. Many families have lost their homes.  The suffering is terrible.

Yesterday at the peace vigil, we came together to support each other - people of all faiths and none. We celebrated and recognised all of Oxford’s many diverse communities. In Oxford we are rightly proud of our welcoming, multicultural and compassionate city. 

The terrible loss of life in Israel, Gaza and now Lebanon has shocked and appalled us all. We need peace.

We are conscious that many people in our local communities are grieving for loved ones or are worried about friends and relations in Gaza, Israel, Lebanon and Iran, as well as other conflicts in the world such as Sudan and Ukraine. 

A year on, I also want to say that nobody should experience fear in our city as a result of international events. No-one should feel worried to wear a symbol of their faith or culture whether that is a hijab or a star of David. Oxford City Council stands shoulder to shoulder with people from all communities in our city and county, coming together in peace and solidarity, irrespective of their faith or background. 

Today we once again fly our city flag at half-mast to mark our sorrow at the war, destruction and loss of life in Gaza, Israel, Lebanon and elsewhere in the world and in the hope of peace.

I pledge to continue to work with all of our faith communities to ensure that hate and prejudice have no place here, and that people of all faiths and none, and of every background, feel safe, welcome and at home.

Cllr Roz Smith and Djafari-Marbini and Goddard joined the meeting.

Council held a minute's silence to pay tribute to all lives lost.

City Rector reflected on the significance of anniversaries, both good and bad, and the different ways they are handled or celebrated. He emphasised the importance of love, hope, and faith, thanking the Council for its strong commitment to public service.