Future housing developments in town

Sun 6 Feb 2022, 20:25 (last edited on Sun 6 Feb 2022, 22:41)

I expect our esteemed town councillors are more up to speed with any current proposals than I am – but as the ‘lead’ person on housing in the Neighbourhood Plan process perhaps I can clear up some misunderstandings here.  Or at least try to!

The WODC Local Plan (LP) and our own Neighbourhood Plan (NP) run in tandem until 2031 – though ideally their revision should start well before that as it’s a lengthy process.  Although written around 3 years ago, if you want a full analysis of Charlbury’s housing needs and our intended policy approach – or just a cure for insomnia – look at Appendix 1 of the NP here:  https://www.westoxon.gov.uk/media/0pthvr5t/made-charlbury-neighbourhood-plan-2031-14-06-2021.pdf

I say ‘intended policy approach’ deliberately.  For personal reasons I wasn’t involved in the final discussions with WODC or the Examiner before the NP went to its referendum.  I may yet have more to say to WODC on that if I can ever summon up the energy – it’s a bit like wading through treacle.

Neither the LP nor the NP allocates any sites for housing in Charlbury – nor does the LP do so anywhere else in what WODC calls the Burford-Charlbury sub-area.  There are several reasons for that but the main ones are a. the location in the AONB where it is national policy that development should be restricted (but not prevented altogether) and b. that even WODC’s own consultants could not demonstrate a locally generated need for more than the 800 or so dwellings that had already been built or permitted in the sub-area between 2011 and 2017 (when the relevant LP provisions were considered by an Inspector).  Indeed – surprise, surprise – one of the consultants’ principal findings was that provision of additional housing mostly encouraged inward migration rather than meeting existing local needs.

That I am quite sure – statement of the obvious – is especially true if the dwellings provided are large 4 and more bedroom houses.  I won’t say what I think about WODC’s record on that.  Yes I will.  Feeble!  What we found in Charlbury (in 2017/18) was that there was no need for more of that sort of housing – but there was a limited need for more affordable dwellings (as defined at national level).  We tried to reflect that in the draft NP policies.  I don’t have up-to-date figures but I doubt that need has yet been met.

Two further twists.  The LP and the NP between them do allow for new residential development here, subject to criteria.  A major one is need.  Demonstrating that is not dependent on either WODC or the TC.  If a developer does the work and can show the need exists, their evidence would need to be (very!) carefully scrutinized but could be successful.  And the NP calculations could only cover the period to the end of 2021 so the TC could, you might say should, at some point update the figures – if anyone has the stomach for it.

Sorry, I’m going fishing!