Housing secretary pressures South Oxfordshire council following its decision to withdraw controversial local plan
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has threatened to intervene in an Oxfordshire local authority whose failure to produce a local plan is stymieing the government’s 100,000-home housing deal for the area.
Jenrick wrote to South Oxfordshire district council yesterday, saying he was considering using powers under the 2004 Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act to take over plan preparation at the authority, or asking Oxfordshire county council to draw up the plan instead.
The letter follows the decision by the authority in October to withdraw its controversial local plan in order to work up a new plan potentially delivering fewer homes. This decision came after the election last May of a joint Liberal Democrat-Green administration at the council, both of which parties had campaigned against the significant green belt releases envisaged under the draft plan, submitted for examination in March.
South Oxfordshire council is one among six Oxfordshire authorities that in 2017 signed up to become part of a £215m housing deal with central government, under which they pledged to ensure the construction of 100,000 homes in the county by 2031.
All local authorities in the area have now brought forward plans aligned with this deal, but South Oxfordshire’s threat to withdraw its local plan jeopardises the arrangement. South Oxfordshire council officers warned in October that in total more than £500m of central government funding for infrastructure in Oxfordshire could be lost if the housing deal falls as a result of withdrawing the plan.
The plan is controversial in the district because it envisages housing growth in existing green belt sites, and at a level – 1,270 homes per year – far in excess of that required by the government’s standard formula for calculating local housing need.
Yesterday’s letter from Jenrick to South Oxfordshire council leader Sue Cooper said he was considering using Section 27 powers under the 2004 Act to either prepare or revise South Oxfordshire’s local plan himself, or inviting Oxfordshire County – which is supportive of the housing deal – to take control.
He said South Oxfordshire needed to respond before 31 January with any relevant evidence to inform his ultimate decision.
He added: “I would like to reiterate that this government is committed to ensuring every area has an up-to-date and suitably ambitious Local Plan in place.
“As such, I would welcome your thoughts on any alternative options beyond those outlined above that would allow the plan to proceed without the need for formal government intervention.”
In response, a spokesperson for South Oxfordshire district council said: “We can confirm the council received a letter from the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government addressed to the leader, Cllr Sue Cooper.
“The council is currently considering its options and will be providing a response in due course by the end of the month as requested.”
Any intervention would be the first time the government has used Section 27 powers to strip a council of its plan-making responsibility. Former local government secretary Sajid Javid threatened a number of councils with intervention in 2016, but ultimately decided to work with them to bring forward plans, rather than formally intervene.
Oxfordshire council has been contacted for comment.
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