The following is the actual press release from the Vale, issued today.
PRESS RELEASE
Issued on 5 November 2014
Vale prepares to submit its Local Plan to the government
Vale of White Horse District Council is making the final preparations to submit its Local Plan to the government. It is inviting people to make comments on the draft plan and the way it was put together, which will be considered by a planning inspector when he or she examines the plan.
The Local Plan is a document that sets out where new houses and employment sites across the Vale will be, and what infrastructure the Vale will need to support it.
Earlier this year and in 2013, whilst drafting the plan, the Vale asked people across the district for their views on its proposals. People who responded included residents, community groups and a wide range of national organisations, and their comments have had helped update and improve the plan throughout the process.
Changes to the plan include:
- decreasing the size of the proposed housing site at Milton Heights by 1,000 homes because of traffic concerns;
- a site in south Shrivenham being removed, with part of its allocation being added to the site north of the village, partly based on the preferences of local residents;
- a reduction of the size of a site at east Harwell following comments from Natural England and the AONB Board; and
- sites removed from the Green Belt at Cumnor, Wootton and North Radley.
Recognising the district will need continued investment in infrastructure to support all the new housing that will be provided over the course of the Local Plan, the Vale is introducing an additional source of funding for infrastructure. This is called the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which is essentially a tax developers have to pay on new developments. 15 per cent of the levy goes to parish councils, 25 per cent if they have a neighbourhood plan in place, with the remainder going to the district council.
The Vale has a list of infrastructure projects it intends to fund in whole or in part from CIL. Money raised from CIL across a number of developments can be pooled together to raise funds for these and other infrastructure projects that can benefit the whole district.
The Vale is asking people what they think about the charges they’re proposing to make.
To make sure the new developments in the district are well-designed, well laid out and respectful of their surroundings, the council has also completely overhauled its Design Guide, which is a document used by developers to make sure they design homes and communities in line with the needs of the local area. The council’s planning officers also use the document when deciding if a planning application is acceptable.
The district council is also asking people to have a look at the draft Design Guide and provide their thoughts before the council finalises it and then starts using it early next year.
For more information and to find out how to respond, residents can go to the council’s website at www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/
Cllr Mike Murray, cabinet member for planning policy at the Vale, said: “Thanks to everybody’s comments over the past couple of years, we have put together a robust plan that we’re confident will get the planning inspector’s green light. This is a crucial step on the road to getting ourselves back in control of planning in the Vale. Whilst finalising the Local Plan, we have also been working hard to make sure all new developments in the district are well supported by infrastructure, and the introduction of our Community Infrastructure Levy will help us do that. The overhaul of our Design Guide will make sure that all new developments will be well-designed and respect the character of our district.”
Consultation details
The consultations on the following documents all run from 7 November until 4.30pm on Friday 19 December.
- Local Plan 2031: Part 1 (publication version)
- Community Infrastructure Levy Preliminary Draft Charge Schedule
- The Vale Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document