By More than 800 people have logged on to view the live proceedings of the public examination of the emerging South Oxfordshire Local Plan 2034
The South Oxfordshire examination is being led by an independent Inspector that has been appointed by the Secretary of State. This examination is the first in the country to be carried out online by the Planning Inspectorate following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Local Plan will play an important role in the future of the South Oxfordshire district, by helping to determine an array of aspects surrounding the growth of the area, including where new housing and employment developments can go.
Cllr Anne-Marie Simpson, Cabinet Member for Planning at South Oxfordshire District Council, said:
“Any Local Plan is incredibly important for its local area, so it is good that people have the opportunity to witness the examination hearings. I’m very pleased that a lot of people are taking the time to watch the live feed and I think that this is a very positive step in ensuring the transparency of issues that like this.”
The live feed of the discussions involved in the examination is being shown via YouTube, with many viewers commenting that they enjoy being able to view the the examination process in much greater detail.
The Council have announced that a total of 813 people watched proceedings in the first week, amassing between them over 2,500 hits to the YouTube channel.
Matters discussed during Week One included:
- Housing requirement,
- Housing trajectory and housing supply,
- Housing for everyone, and
- Design and Density.
Contributors invited to speak were made by 60 organisations, public bodies and individuals.
Week Two will commence on Tuesday 21 July with the following matters on the agenda:
- Tuesday 21 July
- 10am – Inspector’s announcements; Matter 5: Spatial Strategy & Matter 6: Green Belt (Combined Hearing)
- 2pm – Reserved for Matters 5 & 6 if necessary
- Wednesday 22 July
- 10am – Inspector’s announcements; Matter 5: Spatial Strategy & Matter 6: Green Belt (Combined Hearing)
- 2pm – Reserved for Matters 5 & 6 if necessary
- Thursday 23 July
- 10am – Matter 7: Infrastructure (strategic);
- 2pm – Matter 8: Climate change mitigation.
- Friday 24 July
- Matter 9: Employment development; Inspector’s announcements
Anyone who is interested in viewing the examination can watch the live feed online by visiting the examination hearing’s YouTube page.
The examination is scheduled to last four weeks.
Once the Hearings have concluded, the Inspector may suggest changes for consultation prior to producing an Inspector’s Report later this year on how to finalise the local plan, before it is brought to Councillors for a decision on adoption.
For further information please visit – www.southoxon.gov.uk/examination.
Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
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