Examination

Core Strategy Adopted - 14 March 2011

The Core Strategy is the principal document in Oxford's Local Development Framework (LDF). It sets out a vision, spatial strategy and core policies to guide development and change in Oxford up to 2026. The Core Strategy was adopted by the City Council on 14 March 2011. Visit our Core Strategy page for full details.

Core Strategy approved - 21 December 2010

Oxford City Council's Core Strategy has been approved by the Planning Inspectorate.  Two independent Planning Inspectors considered the Oxford Core Strategy, and confirmed on 21st December 2010 that the document is sound.  The Core Strategy was originally submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in November 2008.  However, the examination was delayed as a result of legal challenges to the South East Plan, and the Government's proposal to revoke Regional Strategies.  The Core Strategy will now be taken to Full Council on 14 March 2011 for adoption.

Councillor Bob Price, Leader of Oxford City Council, says:"I am delighted that the hard work of officers to produce this document has been recognised and the Strategy has been declared sound. This document is our overarching strategy for the way we will look at developing Oxford over the next 20 years.  It has taken a long time to get to this stage and we have faced some challenges but it was important for us to have a long term vision for the city.  We can now take this forward and develop the more detailed plans for the locations identified within the city.  We will continue to actively consult the public on these document as we progress with planning the future shape of Oxford."

Core Strategy Final Inspector's Report - 21 December 2010 (351kB PDF)
  Core Strategy Final Inspector's Report Annexes A1 and A2 (784kB PDF)

Letter from Inspector - 11 November 2010 (55kB PDF)
Responses received up to 29 November 2010 (1.4MB PDF)
Responses received 30 November - 3 December 2010 (536kB PDF)
City Council response to Letter from Inspector (35kB PDF)
City Council response to points made in representations (93kB PDF)

Since its submission to the Secretary of State in 21st Nov 2008, the Core Strategy is now in its Examination phase. The Planning Inspectorate appointed an Inspector, Mr. David Fenton MSc DipTP MRTPI.

Mr Fenton retired in October 2009 as was replaced by a new Inspector, Mr Stephen Pratt. However in view of the exceptional circumstances of this examination, Mr Fenton will assist Mr Pratt in:

• considering the further suggested changes to the Core Strategy and supporting evidence, read the statements and hear and be involved in the discussions at the resumed hearing sessions;
• revisit his report and, with Inspector Pratt, draft the final report as a joint report.

The contact details for the Programme Officer for the Examination are below:

Programme Officer - Helen Wilson
Tel: 01527 65741
progofficer@aol.com

The Core Strategy Examination timetable is as follows (subject to change):

Statutory notice of Examination	Published on 28th May 2009
Pre-Hearing meeting	10 am, Tues 2nd June 2009 in the Old Library, Town Hall Minutes of PHM meeting Minutes letter
Hearing sessions	From Tues 14th July 2009 - 29th July 2009 and reconvening on 10th and 11th Sept 2009 Matters and Issues and draft agenda (updated 4th Sept) See the Core Documents page for the Examination Library
Procedural meeting	Tuesday 9th February 2010 Letter from Programme Officer Agenda Background Note Note of Procedural Meeting
Consultation on Further Proposed Changes	9 April to 21 May 2010
Inspector confirms whether the hearings are to be resumed and sets out further questions to be addressed by the Council	12 July 2010
Council response to Inspector and deadline for participants' further comments	20 August 2010
Hearings recommence	14 September 2010 Letter from Programme Officer Agenda Letter from Programme Officer - 8 Sep 10 Hearings Background Note

3 September 2010

To assist participants in the Examination, City Council officers have prepared a 'Combined Changes' document to show all proposed changes to the Core Strategy since it was submitted in November 2008.

Combined Changes Document (Sept 2010) (4.6MB PDF)

23 August 2010

Following the revocation of the South East Plan (or RSS), the City Council has prepared a document responding to a number of issues raised by the Inspector, Mr Pratt, in his letter of 12 July 2010. The City Council has also prepared a Housing Background Paper, in response to the Inspector's letter of 24 July 2010. Other examination participants have also responded to the Inspector.

Oxford City Council Response to Inspector's Letter dated 12 July 2010 (Aug 2010) (79KB PDF)
Housing Provision Background Paper (Aug 2010) (57KB PDF)
Participants' Statements (18200KB PDF)

24 July 2010

The City Council has received the following letter from the Inspector requesting a background paper on housing provision following the revocation of the South East Plan.

Letter from Inspector - 24 July (9KB PDF)

12 July 2010

The City Council has received the following letter from the Inspector, requesting confirmation from the Council that it wishes him to conclude the examination with further hearings in September 2010 and asking the Council to provide some further information on the implications of the revocation of the South East Plan.

Letter from Inspector - 12 July (73KB PDF)

11 June 2010

The City Council have received the following letter from the Inspector.

Letter from Inspector - 11 June (48KB PDF)

8 June 2010

The City Council has prepared a summary of responses to the Further Proposed Changes to the Core Strategy.

Summary of representations received on Further Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy (455KB PDF)

12 May 2010

The City Council have received the following letter from the Planning Inspectorate which reappoints Inspector David Fenton to assist Inspector Pratt with Oxford's Core Strategy Examination.

Letter from Planning Inspectorate - 12 May 2010 (40KB PDF)

Further Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy - Consultation from 9 April to 21 May 2010

Recent legal challenges to the Regional Spatial Strategy (the South East Plan) have potential implications on the Core Strategy, due to the possible deletion of an urban extension referred to as the South Oxford Strategic Development Area (SOSDA). Inspector Pratt has asked the City Council to respond to him on a number of points, and also to produce a schedule of changes to the Core Strategy. It is only these changes, known as the Further Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy, on which we now invite representations. For the purposes of this consultation exercise, the starting point is the April 2009 version of the Core Strategy known as the Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy.

We are now seeking your representations on the Further Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy. Please be aware that we will only accept comments that address the Further Proposed Changes document. You should include all the points you wish to make about these changes. If you have made comments at previous stages in the Core Strategy process there is no need to repeat these points as they will still be considered by the Inspector in writing his report.

You can respond to this consultation online on our Consultation pages. Representations can also be made by emailing us at ldf@oxford.gov.uk or by post to Spatial and Economic Development, Oxford City Council, St Aldate's Chambers, 109 St Aldate's, Oxford, OX1 1DS.  Representations must be received no later than Friday 21 May 2010.

Please note that your representation will be publicly available and a copy will be published on the Council's website, showing your name and address (personal details such as telephone numbers, email addresses or signatures will be removed prior to publication on the internet). You may ask for your address to be withheld, but representations cannot be anonymous.

Representations will then be considered by the Examination Inspector, ahead of confirming whether there will be further hearing sessions to conclude the examination.

Further Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy (April 2010)
Comment Form
Statement of Representations Procedure
Representations received on the Further Proposed Changes

Please note that five new Core Documents (CD7/27, CD7/28, CD10/13, CD15/17 and CD15/18) have been added to the Examination Library as evidence related to the Further Proposed Changes and all are available to view online or at the libraries listed in the Statement of Representations procedure.

Earlier Stages in the Examination

February 2010 - Following the Procedural Meeting on 9 February 2010, a note of the meeting has been produced by the Programme Officer and Inspector (see above). The responses made by the City Council to questions raised by the Inspector at the meeting can be viewed below:

Inspector's decision in response to City Council's letter of 3 March 2010 (70kB PDF)
Oxford City Council full response to the Inspector - 3 March 2010 (31kB PDF)
Oxford City Council interim response to Inspector - 19 February 2010 (160kB PDF)

January 2010 - Due to the current and predicted adverse weather conditions, and the time needed to discuss the issues, the Inspector has decided to postpone the Procedural meeting that was scheduled for 11 January 2010. The Procedural meeting will now take place on Tuesday 9 February in the Assembly Room, Oxford Town Hall starting at 11am.  The agenda for the Procedural meeting is above.

November 2009 - The Inspector's Report was due to be delivered to the City Council by the end of October.  The Planning Inspectorate has, however, decided to put on hold the Inspector's Report in light of legal challenges being made to the South East Plan, and consequent uncertainty over the Strategic Development Area to the south of the city.  Once the outcome of the legal challenges to the South East Plan is known, a further hearing session will be held to consider the way forward.

Due to the retirement of Inspector Fenton at the end of October, the Planning Inspectorate has appointed another Inspector, Mr Stephen Pratt BA (Hons) MRTPI, to conduct the remaining part of the examination.

Mr Pratt has asked the City Council for their views about the implications of the legal challenges and whether any progress could be made with the examination pending its resolution.  The City Council has now responded to the Inspector's questions. The note from the Inspector, the City Council's response with revised key diagram and meeting notes can be viewed below.

Also below are the participants' statements, the City Council's brief written response to the participants' statements and a schedule of the further changes that would be required if the Strategic Development Area is deleted from the South East Plan:

Note from Inspector - 2 November 2009 (13kB PDF)
Oxford City Council's Response and Revised Key Diagram - November 2009 (8000kB PDF)
Meeting Notes - October and November 2009 (42kB PDF)
Participant Statements Part 1 (2.9MB PDF)
Participant Statements Part 2 (880kB PDF)
Participants comments in response to City Council's letter of 3rd March (600kB PDF)
Additional statement from University of Oxford - 8 February 2010 (193kB PDF)
List of Participants' Statements - updated 9 September 2010 (206kB PDF)
City Council's response to participants' statements - 29 January 2010 (63kB PDF)
Schedule of further changes if SOSDA is deleted - 29 January 2010 (124kB PDF)
 
October 2009 - Two letters from the Planning Inspectorate explaining the reasons for the delay and the appointment of Inspector Pratt can be viewed below:

Planning Inspectorate letter - Examination on hold
Planning Inspectorate letter - David Fenton retirement

At the beginning of the Examination phase, there was some initial correspondence between the Inspector and the City Council which can be viewed below.

Letter from the Inspector - 15th Dec 2008
Response from the City Council to the Inspector - 19th Dec 2008

An Exploratory meeting was held on 20th January 2009, notes of which are viewable below.

Exploratory meeting notification letter - 8th Jan 2009
Notes of the Exploratory meeting

Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy

As a result of the Exploratory meeting, the Council produced the Proposed Changes to the Submission Core Strategy. The consultation on the changes shown in this document closed on the 15th May 2009.

Proposed Changes to Submission Core Strategy (5033kB PDF)
Amendment to the Core Strategy SA (371kB PDF)
Statutory notice of consultation (32kB PDF)

Representations received on the Proposed Changes

The representations received can be viewed from the links below. Please note that these are relatively large files and make take some time to download:

Statutory consultees part 1 (3800kB PDF)
Statutory consultees part 2 (8100kB PDF)
Landowners/Developers part 1 (9100kB PDF)
Landowners/Developers part 2 (7700kB PDF)
Landowners/Developers part 3 (6300kB PDF)
Landowners/Developers part 4 (10400kB PDF)
Other groups part 1 (7400kB PDF)
Other groups part 2 (6300kB PDF)
Residents (12600kB PDF)

A hard copy of the Proposed Changes is available for purchase from the Planning Policy Team for £12.50 inc P+P.

Page last reviewed 21 Mar 2011