‘Oxfordshire Plan 2050’ – time running out…

Time is running out to respond to the “Oxfordshire Plan 2050”. The plan is devised by the Oxfordshire Growth Board and represents the next stage of further extensive housing development beyond 2030. By 2031, more than 4000 houses are already in the pipeline for the area of Bicester south of the railway, surrounding Langford and Ambrosden. But by 2050 government wants up to 300,000 new homes in Oxfordshire.

The deadline for response is 25 March 2019 i.e next Monday.

The timing of this announcement is similar to the National Infrastructure Commission report ‘Partnering for Prosperity’ which was published just 3 days before the Budget on 22 November 2017. That budget effectively agreed the report without any consultation and set in motion plans for 1 million new houses in the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford Arc by 2050.

With government and media currently pre-occupied with other matters, this consultation risks slipping under the radar. The seemingly relentless drive for growth at any cost – 1 million new houses, 300,000 in Oxfordshire – would more than double the population of Oxfordshire in the space of 30 years and could be a castrophe. It is the justification for a new Motorway.

On budget day, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government published a policy paper on the Arc, outlining the ‘government ambition and joint declaration between government and local partners’.

See link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-oxford-cambridge-arc-government-ambition-and-joint-declaration-between-government-and-local-partners

If you feel such growth is unsustainable, would like to respond to the consultation but are not sure what to say, you may wish to review the following link…