South Oxfordshire District Council is preparing a strategy for South Oxfordshire as part of its work on the Local Development Framework to 2026.

The main purpose of the core strategy is to identify issues and directions of growth for new development up to the year 2026.  The council will make all its major decisions – for example, broad locations of major new housing or employment developments, through the process of preparing this strategy.

CPRE Wallingford District, CPRE Thame District and CPRE Henley and Mapledurham District each responded to the Core Strategy Preferred Options Consultation which closed in May 2009.

Latest News

2010

March 18th: SODC postpone decision on Core Strategy until after election.

South Oxfordshire District Council has today announced that it will delay consideration of its local development framework core strategy until after the impending general election.

The core strategy is a key document that sets out where major housing development will go.  The proposals that the council has consulted on have generated significant debate, particularly in Wallingford and Thame.

It is a general principle, enshrined in the Local Government Act 1986, that councils do not consider controversial issues, with the inherent publicity that they generate, in the period immediately prior to elections.

The council’s cabinet was due to discuss the local development framework at its meeting on the 8 April, just four weeks before the most likely date for the general election.  The council’s chief executive, who is also acting returning officer for the two parliamentary constituencies affected by the core strategy proposals, Henley and Wantage, has therefore decided to delay consideration until a later date.

Chief executive of South Oxfordshire District Council, David Buckle said:

“It has become increasingly obvious to me that some of the proposals in the core strategy will become election issues.  I cannot stop that but I can avoid fuelling the fires by delaying consideration of the document until after the general election.  When that will be is still open to speculation although 6 May seems very likely.  If it is 6 May then I envisage that the council’s cabinet will meet in June to make its final decisions.”

• For more information about the Core Strategy and the timetable see here.

February 24th 2010: 750 new homes in Wallingford: Where should they go?

Following SODC's Core Strategy Preferred Options consultation earlier in 2009, there was a large public outcry to its proposals for Wallingford.  As a result it appointed Studio REAL (architects and urban planners) who worked with the support of a steering group of representatives from the district, town and parish councils. 

Studio REAL have suggested an alternative housing site to those put forward previously.  SODC is now re-consulting on the preferred options for Wallingford with the addition of this recommendation.

SODC will be updating its Wallingford Background Assessment once it has received all relevant responses from key consultees, such as Oxfordshire County Council, Highways Authority etc.

This consultation closed on 24th February 2010.

• For more information about the Additional Wallingford Consultation see here.

What you can do

Let SODC know which of the three preferred sites or combination of sites you think would be best for Wallingford’s new housing.

Send your comments through to planning.policy@southoxon.gov.uk or write to: Planning Policy, South Oxfordshire District Council, Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, OX10 8NJ.

May 2009: Core Strategy Preferred Options Consultation period ends.

The SODC's consultation period for the Core Strategy Preferred Options is now closed. It ran from 20 March 2009 until 1 May 2009. This is the stage of preparing South Oxfordshire’s Core Strategy where SODC presented its preferred strategy for the district and explain which options it has rejected.

• For more information on Preferred Optoins Consultation see here.
• See: CPRE Wallingford District Response here.
• See: CPRE Thame District Response here.
• See: CPRE Henley and Mapledurham District Response here.

February 2008: Core Strategy Issues and Options Consultation period ends.

The SODC consultation on the issues and options stage of the Core Strategy has now closed. It ran from November 2007 to February 2008.

In July and August 2007 SODC held a number of ‘Your Place, Your Future’ workshops with stakeholders which helped the District Council to identify what the key issues are.

• For more information on the Issues and Options Consultation see here.

2006

South Oxfordshire Site Allocations Development Plan

7 November 2006

The spectre of a new town on the edge of Thame first put forward and rejected 20 years ago has raised its head again but members of the CPRE are already up in arms and making their protests about it. Mike Tyce told the Oxford Mail "Our view is that there should be no new building in open countryside and certainly not a new settlement which would be a blot on some of the least spoiled countryside in Oxfordshire and just be a settlement for commuters." Oxford Mail, 7 November.

Where should new housing go: Stone Bassett again?

The Government has set targets for housing for the south east of England (see the South East Plan). This means that South Oxfordshire District Council has to find a place for 2,000 more new homes as well as those planned at Didcot. The Council has issued a questionnaire asking where this housing should go and noting the sites that have already been put forward by interested parties.

The map of the suggested sites includes a huge area between the M40, A329, Great Haseley and Milton Common, stretching almost to Tetsworth. This is "Stone Bassett" again but in an even larger form than before.

Stone Bassett revived? (Source: SODC)

Stone Bassett. In the late 1980s the village of Great Haseley, with support from the whole area, fought a huge battle to stop the development of Stone Bassett. The proposal had been for a town of 15,000 people just south of the village. It would have utterly destroyed the rural atmosphere of this area. After a huge and costly public enquiry, in which CPRE was heavily involved, the development was turned down.

The current consultation does not mean that a newly resurgent idea for Stone Bassett is part of the Council plans—as yet—but we all need to act to make sure it remains so. Please complete the questionnaire and make it clear that Stone Bassett is not a welcome option. You can also give your views on how housing should be allocated elsewhere in South Oxfordshire, including developments in Thame, Wheatley, etc. Using the link below, you will find both the map and the questionnaire, which only takes a few minutes to complete.

• SODC site allocation development plan

Deadline for responses: 17 November 2006