1) Overall concerns - Cherwell 2040 Draft proposals

• The Council is again providing for far too many houses than is necessary. It should stick with the Government’s figures*
• It is also providing far too many houses for Oxford. Oxford has consistently exaggerated its ‘need’ claiming that it is almost double the Government’s figures*.
• All of this excessive development will place a huge strain on transport and other infrastructure and local services, especially coming on top of the huge levels of development already planned for this area
• Too much Green Belt land has already been allocated for development around Kidlington
• The 4,400 houses (likely to be more) will already damage the local environment and add to transport and other problems
• the 4,400 houses are supposedly for Oxford’s need only but in practice this is meaningless as they will be available for anyone including residents of Kidlington
• It is clear that more than 4,400 houses are being planned for the housing sites already allocated which is a further reason for not taking any more Green Belt.
• Green Belt boundaries are meant to endure beyond the lifetime of a local plan. Given that a major revision was made to Cherwell’s Green Belt boundaries only three years ago (in a plan for the period to 2031) it is hard to see how further revision can be justified now.

* by Government’s figures we are referring to the “Standard Method” which the Government uses for calculating “housing need” for use in planning.