Oxford Local Plan 2042: Preferred Options

Regulation 18 (Preferred Options in the First Draft Local Plan 2042) Stage

The Regulation 18 stage is the first of two statutory consultation stages for the Local Plan. At this stage a local authority is required to notify and invite representations from relevant bodies or persons. It provides the main opportunity to influence the content and scope of the policies in the plan, for example by bringing to our attention areas we may have overlooked, before the plan progresses to a more advanced stage. 

Preferred Options Document (First Draft Oxford Local Plan 2042)

The Preferred Options document contains a series of draft policies which cover a range of topics including housing, economy, communities, green spaces, design and heritage. It also includes a development sites and infrastructure chapter, which sets out proposed sites that may require an  allocation in the plan. 

The draft policies presented in the document are what we have identified as the preferred options, which is the approach that we consider will bring about the most beneficial outcome for a particular subject area when compared to the other possible alternatives. The alternative approaches considered are set out in our Background Papers. 

This First Draft Oxford Local Plan 2042 document is an important step in policy development which transitions from the issues identified through early engagement and collection of evidence, to the draft plan which will be consulted in the next consultation stage.  

Go to the First Draft Oxford Local Plan 2042 Consultation document.

Sustainability Appraisal and Background Papers

The purpose of the Sustainability Appraisal process is to appraise the social, environmental and economic effects of a plan from the outset. It helps to inform decisions by assessing the likely positive and negative impacts of options, policies and sites across a wide range of topics. It therefore performs a key role in providing a sound evidence base for the plan and is an integrated part of the plan preparation process.

Part of the Sustainability Appraisal is presented as Background Papers that correspond with the subjects that are addressed in the emerging plan. They cover the relevant national and local policy context, research data and other pieces of evidence that have directly informed the policy options. The documents contain the full set of policy options for each subject area, and we highlight the preferred option (presented as the draft policy in the First Draft Oxford Local Plan 2042) with discussion on the rationale for the chosen approach. 

The sustainability appraisal and background papers have been updated for the Regulation 19 stage of the plan.  The Regulation 18 stage documents are available for cross reference only.

Go to Regulation 18 stage Sustainability Appraisal Documents, Appendices and Background Papers.

Go to Regulation 18 stage Individual Site Assessments.

Evidence Base and Supporting Documents

The Preferred Options document is supported by a suite of studies, as well as the Sustainability Appraisal.

Several documents in the evidence base have been updated for the Regulation 19 stage of the Plan. The Regulation 18 stage documents are available for cross reference only.

Go to Evidence Base and Supporting Documents

Regulation 18 Policies Map

Our interactive policies map displays spatial polices as proposed in the Preferred Options document. The potential development sites listed in Chapter 8 are shown here.

Having unmet housing need means that the government tells us we have to see if areas of the GreenBelt could be developed for housing.

At this stage, we have ruled out much of the green belt as not being suitable for development, for example because it is functional flood plain or because of its wildlife value.

The rest of the Green Belt we have assessed against the purposes of Green Belt, and we now need to investigate landowner interest, biodiversity interest, whether there is access and whether there are any other constraints.

This map shows the area of Green Belt, the areas ruled out at this stage as absolutely undevelopable .

Previous Consultation Stages

Regulation 18 (Preferred Options) Stage

The City Council carried out its Regulation 18 consultation on the Oxford Local Plan 2042 Preferred Options from 27 June to 8 August 2025, using the First Draft Oxford Local Plan 2042 as the main document. This stage sought views on the draft policies identified as preferred options - those considered most likely to deliver the best outcomes compared with alternatives outlined in the Background Papers.

Early Engagement

In March/April 2025, Oxford City Council the early engagement survey was designed to ask a series of questions to assess to what extent the public and businesses deem certain topics important for the Local Plan to influence and prioritise.