What would you like Oxford to look like in 2036?
The City Council has started work on a new Local Plan that will guide Oxford’s development over the next 20 years. It will direct new development in the city towards delivering new and jobs homes for its growing population, respond to future social, environmental and economic change, and help shape the future of Oxford.
The council is keen to engage people at an early stage in the creation of the ‘Oxford Local Plan 2036’ and has opened the first-steps period of public consultation, which will run from 27 June to 5 August.
This early engagement offers an opportunity for everyone to be involved in developing a vision for Oxford in 2036. The council would like communities to help identify the key issues to address and the potential options for dealing with them. Two other periods of public involvement and engagement will follow during the summer of 2017 and 2018, leading to the production of a draft Local Plan by 2018.
Home to 160,000 people, Oxford is a fast-growing international city whose population is expected to rise by 20 per cent over the next 20 years. The city will need adequate, appropriate and environmentally sustainable provision of not only housing, transport and jobs, but also schools and public amenities, green spaces and other facilities to serve the growing population.
Oxford faces a longstanding housing crisis, which has many impacts on families and communities, as well as on employers and services such as schools and hospitals which struggle to keep staff. Through the Local Plan, the council will aim to ensure that Oxford gets enough homes of the right mixture of tenures in the right locations to meet the needs of everyone in the city.
Cllr Alex Hollingsworth, Board Member for Planning, Transport and Regulatory Services, said: “Our key priority is to get the balance right between our population, the economy and the environment as we develop the vision of what Oxford should be like in 2036. We want to make sure that Oxford continues to be a successful and attractive city where people enjoy living, working and visiting.”
The council has set up a series of events over the summer where members of the public can get information from council staff and submit their views on the Local Plan:
Saturday 2nd July:
12.00-4.00 Leys Festival, Blackbird Leys Park
Saturday 9th July:
10.00-4.00 West Oxford Fun Day, Botley Park
Sunday 10th July:
12.00-5.00 Cowley Road Carnival, Cowley Road
Saturday 16th July:
10.00-1.00 East Oxford Farmer’s & Community Market, East Oxford Primary School
Wednesday 20th July:
10.00-5.00 Gloucester Green Market, Gloucester Green
Saturday 23rd July:
12.00-7.00 Eid Festival, Rose Hill Community Centre and Park
Sunday 24th July:
9.30-12.00 South Oxford Farmer’s & Community Market, South Oxford Community Centre
Saturday 30th July:
11.00-5.00 Grandpont Playday, South Oxford Adventure Playground
To participate in the consultation online, please visit Local Plan pages.
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