Agenda item

Purpose: To consider an update on the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 (JSSP) project plan and the Green Belt.

Information: Programme report and Green Belt (attached)

Recommendation: The Scrutiny Panel note and comment upon the report.

Giles Hughes, Head of Planning and Strategic Housing – West Oxfordshire District Council, presented a paper which set out a programme to produce Oxfordshire Plan 2050 (JSSP) and work to develop an evidence base for the Regulation 18 Part 2 consultations. He also introduced a separate paper on the Green Belt and Oxfordshire Plan 2050. This followed a request from the Panel to receive further information on these issues at its previous meeting.

The following points were highlighted to the Panel:

·           Ongoing discussions were taking place with Highways England and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, (MHCLG) with the regard to the impact of a consultation on a potential OxCam Expressway and the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 consultation.  The discussions had been positive, and it was considered that the relationships between the two documents were understood better, although the discussions remained work in progress.

·           The detailed workstreams which would support the Regulation 18 Part 2 document. Many of these would be new commissions from experts in their field.

·           As part of the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 process, it was an appropriate time for discussions to take place on the impact of the Plan on the Green Belt.

During discussions, significant concerns were expressed that the timing between the Regulation 18 Part 2 Oxfordshire Plan 2050 consultation and HM Government’s consultation on the OxCam Expressway were not aligned. The potential routes for the Expressway would have a significant impact on the choice of housing sites, and this needed to be recognised by the Growth Board.

With regard to the agenda paper on the Green Belt, the main points raised in discussion were as follows:

·           Commitment to the principle of the continued protection of the Green Belt.

·           While helpful, the map of the Oxford Green Belt was not an up to date reflection of its current location, nor did it reflect the existing allocation of development sites. There was also the need to reflect and consider Green Belt locations across the county as a whole;

·           Although the Panel recognised the status of the Green Belt, development had always been possible within its boundaries. Some members felt that the role of the Green Belt was not to prevent all development, but instead to constrain urban sprawl. The challenge is, therefore, to facilitate public transport corridors and encourage development where it could be most sustainable. The focus of the suggested questions within the paper was, therefore, incorrect.

·           Issues such as natural capital, access to open space and the positive health impact of Green Belt were also topics that needed to be taken into consideration as part of any review.  The Panel noted that Officers had to work with the published NPPF criteria around Green Belts, but there was scope to interpret it in different ways, for instance around environmental quality and climate change.

·           Oxfordshire remained a largely agricultural county and this needed to be reflected in the continued protection of the Green Belt as a key principle. The continued maintenance of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, (AONB) alongside the Green Belt was also very important.

·           Concerns were expressed by several members of the Panel around the sustainability of the existing 100,000 homes planned as part of the growth Deal. Further anxieties were also expressed regarding the potential impact of the Oxford to Cambridge Arc on sustainability and the Green Belt. 

·           There was a need to take a holistic view of the protection of the Green Belt and climate change by considering carbon sequestration, zero carbon strategies and reforestation as environmental infrastructure within the Oxfordshire Plan 2050.

RESOLVED:

1)     That the Growth Board reflect on the inability of the Consultation on Issues (Scale of growth and broad locations - Reg 18 Part 2) to be effective as it precedes the HM Government’s decision on the Oxford – Cambridge Expressway route.

2)     That the Growth Board emphasise the continued protection of not only the Green Belt but also the AONB and Rural Oxfordshire by adding it to the principles of the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 Vision and by including it as a part of the Green Belt review: reinforcing the existing policies in the NPPF. In addition, the existing allocation of development sites within the Green Belt by local authorities is factored in to the Oxfordshire Plan 2050 Green Belt review.

3)     That the Growth Board take a holistic view in mitigating climate change and preservation of the Green Belt by adding carbon sequestration, zero carbon strategies and reforestation as part of the environmental infrastructure to the Oxfordshire Plan 2050.

The Panel agreed:

That an updated map showing the Green Belt across the county, including sites already developed or allocated, be presented to the May meeting