Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting Room 1, 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Milton, OX14 4SB

Contact: Steve Culliford  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

27.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

Councillors Elizabeth Gillespie, David Nimmo-Smith and Robert Simister had sent their apologies for absence. 

28.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 122 KB

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 3 August 2017. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3 August 2017 as a correct record and agree that the Chairman signs them as such. 

 

29.

Declaration of disclosable pecuniary interest

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting. 

Minutes:

None

30.

Urgent business and chairman's announcements

To receive notification of any matters which the chairman determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chairman. 

Minutes:

None

31.

Public participation

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

Minutes:

Four members of the public had registered to address Cabinet. 

 

(1)      Toby Pejkovic, representing Save Culham Green Belt, made a statement urging Cabinet to vote against the inclusion in the local plan of a housing development site at Culham.  There was insufficient road infrastructure to cope with additional traffic that would be generated by this development, the proposed housing development at Berinsfield, and the proposed quarry at Clifton Hampden.  The reasons for allocating this site for housing development in the Green Belt were not exceptional.  There were no definable boundaries to the site and providing sustainable transport was practically impossible.  He urged Cabinet not to include this site in the local plan but to look at smaller sites instead, and sites outside of the Green Belt. 

 

(2)      Michael Tyce, representing the Campaign to Protect Rural England, believed that there was no longer any need to allocate a surplus of housing land over the strategic housing market assessment target.  The government had recently published proposals to reduce housing numbers, resulting in a reduced level of unmet housing need for Oxford.  Instead some of this land should be allocated for employment use to reduce commuting.  He also suggested that the council should require some higher density housing as it was smaller homes that were required in South Oxfordshire and this would provide more affordable homes and a greater choice for residents.  Reducing the amount of housing required in the local plan would not put the council at great risk. 

 

(3)      Christian Leigh made a statement on behalf of residents at the Rofford estate, regarding the proposed local plan housing allocation at Chalgrove airfield.  He objected to the inclusion of this site in the local plan, questioned whether agreement had been reached with the site owner, and questioned whether the housing could be delivered.  The costs of delivering this development would be high and the airfield was still used by RAF Benson. 

 

(4)      Geoffrey Botting, chairman of the Woodcote Neighbourhood Plan team, made a statement regarding the local plan housing allocations to larger villages.  He was concerned that the new local plan placed greater burdens on larger villages such as Woodcote, yet the government’s recent proposals reduced the housing requirement in South Oxfordshire.  The contingency allowed in the local plan would represent over-provision.  However, Mr Botting accepted the revised wording suggested by officers in the addendum to the report. 

32.

Local Plan to 2033 pdf icon PDF 210 KB

To consider the head of planning’s report. 

 

All district councillors will be sent a copy of the Local Plan document separately.  PLEASE BRING THIS WITH YOU TO THE MEETING. 

 

The Local Plan document can also be found on the council’s website: http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/services-and-advice/planning-and-building/planning-policy/emerging-local-plan

 

The Scrutiny Committee will discuss the Local Plan on Wednesday 13 September 2017.  The committee’s comments will be made available at the Cabinet meeting. 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet considered the head of planning’s report, which proposed the publication of the Local Plan to 2033, under Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, as the version of the plan proposed to be submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination. 

 

The chairman invited Councillor David Turner to address Cabinet.  Mr Turner urged Cabinet to remove Chalgrove airfield from the sites allocated for housing development in the local plan.  He believed the development would not be deliverable as the airfield was used regularly by RAF Benson.  Building homes close to the RAF’s testing area would lead to noise complaints from new residents.  There were no satisfactory transport connections to cope with the increased number of cars and no plans to increase bus services.  This development would be unsustainable.  Demand for houses in Chalgrove was being met by the neighbourhood plan.  Development of the airfield was not supported locally, by the parish council, or by the county council. 

 

The Scrutiny Committee had debated the local plan and had supported it, together with the inclusion of the major housing site allocations at Culham and Chalgrove. 

 

The officers had produced an addendum to the report, setting out changes proposed since the Scrutiny Committee meeting.  The addendum was made available at the meeting, its main points included:

·         Amending the wording on housing density to encourage proposals that sought to deliver higher quality and higher density development to minimise land take

·         Releasing an area of the Green Belt at Wheatley to support the neighbourhood planning group’s aspirations to allocate land for mixed use development, recognising the previous openness of the Green Belt and the exceptional circumstances in this case

·         Increasing the target for self-build housing to promote this as a route to home ownership

·         Further developing a high-quality cycle network and improvements to public transport provision

·         Requiring a detailed evidence base to support each neighbourhood development plan and its assessment of capacity in market towns and larger villages

·         Clarifying that only a limited number of homes would be required prior to the delivery of planned transport infrastructure at Culham

 

Cabinet agreed with the changes listed in the addendum and referred to above, except for further developing a high-quality cycle network and improvements to public transport provision as this was already included as local plan policy. 

 

The Cabinet member for strategic policy recognised the difficulties experienced by the council without a five-year housing land supply, which had resulted in some development proposals being lost on appeal.  He commended the work of the officers on the local plan and believed that this offered a firm plan to local residents.  The council had a duty to co-operate with neighbouring councils and had agreed to the distribution across the county of Oxford’s unmet housing need.  The local plan provided a reasonable contribution of 3,750 homes toward that unmet need. 

 

Last week the government had published proposals for consultation that recalculated the housing requirement using a nationwide formula.  This suggested  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

33.

Exclusion of the Public

To consider whether to exclude members of the press and public from the meeting for the following item of business under Part 1 of Schedule 12A Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 on the grounds that:

(i)         it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 to 7 Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and

(ii)       the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

Minutes:

RESOLVED: to exclude members of the press and public from the meeting for the following item of business under Part 1 of Schedule 12A Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 on the grounds that:

i.      it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and

ii.     the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

34.

Market Place Mews, Henley

To consider the report of the head of HR, IT and technical services. 

Minutes:

Cabinet agreed to dispose of land at Market Place Mews, Henley. 

 

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