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Oxford Council mulls next steps after local plan rejected over ‘too high’ targets
Oxford City Council has said it is “considering its options” after its local plan was refused because the housing targets it set were too high.
In a surprise move, the Planning Inspectorate recommended that the local authority withdraw its draft Oxford local plan 2040, which set out a need to build 1,322 homes a year.
While the inspectorate accepted that 481 homes a year should be built within the city, it rejected the total target given that 841 of these would need to be built outside its boundaries.
Oxford Council had made the case that the city’s “urgent need for homes” and “thriving life science and technology sectors” meant that its housing targets should be higher.
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But the inspectorate said were no exceptional circumstances justifying the need for more homes and said the council should instead use the standard method for calculating housing need, which would mean 762 new homes a year up to 2040.
It also found that the council had not engaged “constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis” on housing need with neighbouring councils, where many of the new homes would be built.
The letter said: “While Oxford City has a buoyant economy, the standard method would provide additional housing, which would support job growth.
“There is no clear justification in this case for departing from the standard method, exceptional circumstances do not exist.”
Oxford Council said it “strongly disputes the findings” and pointed out that the new government is bringing in higher housing targets.
It said the “alleged failure” of its duty to co-operate related to the development of the Housing and Economic Needs Assessment (HENA), a technical assessment intended to identify the housing needs of Oxford and Cherwell only.
Oxford Council said that other districts in Oxfordshire were offered the opportunity to join, but decided not to. It added it was “not normal practice” for local authorities to have involvement in the running of a technical study when they have not commissioned it or are not relying on that study themselves.
Susan Brown, leader of Oxford Council, said: “We are alarmed and extremely disappointed by the recommendation to withdraw our local plan 2040 from public examination.
“The planning inspectors have failed to grasp the seriousness of Oxford’s housing crisis and the number of new homes we need to tackle this crisis – and don’t appear to have heeded the clear message from government which requires all councils to up their housing delivery ambitions.
“The logical outcome of the inspectors’ conclusions will be a delay to proactively planning for the homes we need. The reality is that while the city council are builders, there are others elsewhere who are blockers.
“Waiting for a situation where all councils in Oxfordshire are agreed on housing numbers and cross-boundary matters is just not realistic. That’s why the government is planning the reintroduction of mandatory housing delivery targets.”
