District Councillor’s Report August-September 2019, by Sam Casey-Rerhaye

District Councillor’s Report June 2019

Sorry for the long report this month but I want to let you all know the position of the Council regarding the Local Plan.

 

The Local Plan

Regrettably in the past, while Didcot was allowed to expand, the infrastructure was not put in at the same time, and it is now a catch-up situation, but with a catch, as money for the “much needed” roads is only available from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) from central government, which itself requires more houses as a condition of the fund.

The proposed housing developments in N.E. Didcot and Didcot A rely on this HIF infrastructure to go ahead. Oxfordshire County Council say that without it they will object to planning permission for these developments on traffic grounds. The houses that are planned here are part of SODC’s minimum ‘5-year housing land supply’ forecast (at the moment this stands at 9.7 years and includes these sites) but without them, the 5-year housing land supply forecast is likely to fall below a 5-year supply in approximately 2023 – although this is a forecast only and subject to many other pressures and influences. This housing land supply condition is imposed upon all district councils by central government and we cannot change it. If a council falls below a 5-year supply, developers can apply and get permission to build houses in any area not under other protections (such as greenbelt or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). These are known as speculative planning applications.

The infrastructure from HIF is also crucial for the Valley Park development in Didcot which is mostly in the Vale of the White Horse. If this development is blocked by OCC on traffic grounds, Vale will immediately lose their 5-year Housing Land supply and become open to speculative planning applications.

When SODC Full Council met on 18^th July a motion that was driven by Councillor Leigh Rawlins (Cabinet Member for Planning) attempted to address the conundrum of the conflict between the Local Plan and the desires of a significant proportion of the new council to scrap it, while also balancing the need to keep the Council in a positive 5-year Housing Land supply, and ensuring the right infrastructure is funded for any new houses built.

The motion passed neither endorsed the draft Local Plan 2034 nor rejected it, calling instead for work be done to resolve issues with it in the light of the Climate Change emergency and the HIF infrastructure proposals.  This work is ongoing in discussions with OCC, the Ministry (MHCLG) and Homes England.

 

I am hopeful a better way forward will be found in the coming weeks, but this does rely on all parties being constructive and flexible. I know many of you voted for me to prevent development on the greenbelt as well as to develop green, sustainable alternatives for our district in any way I can. The evidence is clear that just building new roads is inconsistent with the magnitude of the task ahead of us to prevent catastrophic climate change and I am really hoping Oxfordshire County Council as the highways authority can develop some more innovative and ‘Garden Town’-relevant ideas to help people move about the District, without requiring massive over-development.

 

There are councils all over UK doing this and I hope OCC will not leave us to catch up where others are leading.

The popular demand for the scrapping of the current draft Local Plan was well evidenced by the large number of people attending and speaking at the District Council Meeting.  Although the local plan is supposed to be meeting a huge unmet need for new housing in the District, the only people who spoke in its favour were hired hands from corporate landowners and consultants from unknown clients. There were no people demanding homes.

 

Other motions agreed at Full Council

Other motions that were passed were to show support for the development of rail in the District and County.  The Leader of SODC will write to the relevant minister urging the prioritising of electric rail links in the county and supporting the East-West rail link. This is especially important in light of another motion passed opposing the Expressway, supported by all councillors except two, who abstained.

Another motion was passed urging the Local Government Pension Fund trustees to consider divestment from fossil fuels as soon as possible. This was motivated both by fiduciary responsibility, with fossil fuel investments becoming increasingly unreliable, as much as by climate change.

 

Climate Change Committee

The Council has created a Climate Change Committee and I am a member on this. Our first meeting will be informal and held on 12^th September; thereafter meetings will be in public and dates will be on the SODC website. The committee will be looking at all areas that the council is responsible for, including carbon-zero houses (although directives from this government have made that more difficult), and also where we can influence other policy and organisations.

 

Councillor Grant Scheme

This grant scheme is open again this year. There is £5000 per councillor for local projects in each ward. Please help to promote the scheme to groups in your ward area and direct interested organisations to the council website for further information and how to apply, or drop me a message.

 

Parishes encouraging insects and wildlife in a time of ecological and climate crisis

‘Plantlife’ are an organisation promoting better and more productive verges and grassy areas across the country. There is a growing movement of parishes managing some areas of verge and grassland for the good of insects and wildlife, where it is safe to do so. This is the link I promised to send round to you all:

https://plantlife.love-wildflowers.org.uk/roadvergecampaign/management-guidelines

 

Cycling Survey

I have been appointed the Cycling Champion for South Oxfordshire! A formal announcement of this will be coming soon. Please do contact me if you have anything about cycling you would like to know or ask. The new Council administration at SODC plans to prioritise safe cycling routes in any new developments, and we are supporting the Oxfordshire Cycle Survey, currently underway, from Oxfordshire County Council (the highways authority across the county).   The survey asks what you like or dislike about cycling in Oxfordshire, particularly looking at Oxford, Didcot and Bicester but also about any problems you encounter across the county.  The results of the survey will support the production of the first ‘local cycling and walking infrastructure’ plans for Oxford, Bicester and Didcot and is open for comments until 6 September.  The survey can be found at https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/Cyclesurvey2019/consultationHome

 

Polling Station review

SODC is reviewing all its polling stations and want to hear from members of the community about them.   They are particularly keen to hear from people with disabilities if they have experienced any difficulties accessing the polling stations.  This is a legal obligation, and must be carried out to ensure that all electors have “such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances”.

Any representations or comments should be sent to elections@southandvale.gov.uk and the consultation ends on 27^th September.  More information can be found on the SODC website at http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/news/2019/2019-07/have-your-say-polling-stations-southern-oxfordshire

 

Earth Trust is SODC’s Chair’s charity fund raising quiz night

The  Earth Trust is the Chair of SODC’s chosen charity this year.  A quiz night, on 4 September, is planned to help raise funds for this local environmental charity and will take place in their beautiful 19th century barn. You can register your team at https://earthtrust.org.uk/whats-on/charity-quiz-night/ or if you have any questions, you can contact Karen Dodd on 01235 422082.

 

Food and Safety success

Environmental Health is a District Council responsibility and the South and Vale Food and Safety team are officially among the top performers in the country. The Food Standards Agency has just released their stats for 2018/19 and they confirm that the team carried out 100 per cent of their planned food safety inspections, well above the national average of 89 per cent.  In fact, only 14 per cent of authorities achieved this level.  They were also the only Food and Safety team in Oxfordshire to carry out all their inspections.

You can contact me at:

Sam.casey-rerhaye@southoxon.gov.uk or phone on 01235 799489 and leave a message.

District Councillor’s Report June 2019, by Sam Casey-Rerhaye

District Councillor’s Report June 2019

 

Local Plan

The Council’s first priority, as I outlined in my last report, is to take a long, hard look at the emerging Local Plan (2011-2034), currently sitting with the government inspectors, and assess what we can do to turn it into something acceptable to our communities.  As a result, we have already set in motion a major information-gathering exercise, which included a full Council briefing by SODC Officers on Monday 3^rd June and will be forming a working group to research and review all options at our disposal.  Full Council will be discussing and voting on options on 18^th July. This is not a trivial undertaking, given the huge amount of work that has already gone into the development of the LP2034, but we are committed to doing everything in our power to reduce the impact of new housing on the environment and on our Green Belt.  We are also determined to provide more truly affordable housing in our District and we need to be creative about new ways to do this.

We want to make it very clear that this review has no bearing on the validity or enforceability of the existing Neighbourhood Development Plans, or those currently under development, like in Sandford, Long Wittenham, Clifton Hampden etc.  John Howell himself recently published a statement to this effect on his blog: http://www.johnhowellmp.com/news/.   In summary, he says “it is wrong to say that if the Local Plan is withdrawn, all the Neighbourhood Plans are no longer valid.”

I am on the Scrutiny Committee and we will be meeting on 19^th June to scrutinise the options the Cabinet have been presented with and it is likely that we will need to meet on at least one more occasion before further Cabinet meetings and Full Council.

 

Finances

We also urgently need to return SODC finances to better health, seeking innovative ways to increase revenue and manage all costs effectively and efficiently without continuing to dip into SODC reserves to prop up the operating budget. This is not easy in the current circumstances where central government are being slow with their ‘Fair Funding Review’ on local government funding which makes it challenging to make short- and medium-term financial plans.  And, of course we will be seeking ways to put our money where our mouth is by examining ways in which SODC itself can operate in a more environmentally-friendly way.   This will include how we specify and build the new South and Vale Council offices in Crowmarsh.

 

Cooperation with Vale of White Horse Council

As you know, SODC and Vale share a team of officers and facilities, so we were also delighted that Vale transferred to Liberal Democrat control following the elections, giving us an excellent basis for an on-going partnership.  Sue and Emily Smith (the new Vale Leader) have already had a number of meetings to discuss how such collaboration will work in future and have agreed shared priorities for the coming year and beyond.

 

New SODC Website on its way

Andrea Powell’s Cabinet position covers Corporate Services and Communication, and during the first portfolio briefing, she was given a sneak preview of the new SODC website, which is long overdue and a vast improvement on the current one.  It is much more modern in its look and feel and takes into account the key “user journeys”, or reasons why people come to the SODC website and what they want to do when they get there.  The actual timetable for go-live is not yet known but I will let you know as soon as I hear

 

Recycling

South Oxfordshire was recently ranked in a DEFRA survey as the top recycling district in the South East of England, and third nationally, recycling 63% of its waste.  Well done to all our residents who diligently separate their waste and use the facilities provided to ensure we minimise the rubbish we send to landfill.  Keep up the good work!

If residents do experience any problems with their bins not being collected by Biffa, to whom the Council outsources rubbish collection, they need to report this online by visiting southoxon.gov.uk/missed bins before midnight on the next working day after the collection was due, or by calling 03000 610610 before 5pm on the next working day.