A FINAL draft Local Plan which sets out how West Oxfordshire should develop until 2031 has been approved.

The final version of the Plan follows consultation last summer on housing issues, including a new target and strategy to meet this, which attracted comments from more than 500 individuals and organisations.

All of the comments have been fully considered and all key issues raised have been investigated, with further technical analysis and evaluation carried out where appropriate both by the Council’s officers and external consultants.

As set out in last year’s draft, the final version continues to propose an annual housing target of 525 new homes during the Plan period - 10,500 in total.

This is lower than the figure of 660 homes per annum suggested by the 2014 Oxfordshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment and is supported by more recent evidence and analysis carried out since the assessment was published last April.

The strategy for meeting the housing target remains largely the same as in the original draft, including:

Plans for the majority of the housing to be built at the three main towns of Witney, Carterton and Chipping Norton, with strategic housing sites at west, east and north Witney, east Carterton and on MOD land within Carterton, and land to the east of Chipping Norton.

Outside of these main towns, a focus on development predominantly on larger centres and villages including Eynsham, Woodstock, Long Hanborough, Bampton, Burford and Charlbury.

Development on a smaller scale elsewhere with new homes in other villages to meet local housing needs.

Measures to increase the supply of affordable housing.

Achieving a good mix of housing on new developments to meet a variety of different needs, and to enable ‘self-building’ by those wishing to do so.

Around 60 hectares of land for business focused on the main towns.

New junctions with the A40 at Down’s Road and Shore’s Green, Witney, together with the recent improvements in the Ducklington Lane/Station Lane area and, in the longer term, delivery of the West End Link to provide a second river crossing for Witney.

Councillor Warwick Robinson, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Housing, said: “It is of vital importance to our District that we get our Local Plan into place to guide the way it develops and protect it from speculative development, and we are pleased to be taking a significant step towards this today by approving this robust, evidence-based Plan.

“We would like to thank everyone who made representations to us about the proposals and to reassure the public that we have looked into every detail and, where concerns have been raised, thorough investigations carried out before this final draft was composed.

The final version of the draft Local Plan will be published for six weeks from mid-March, during which time representations can be made.

It will then be submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination later in the year.