Planning Working Group
Terms of Reference
The Planning Working Group was created in late 2021 in response to the volume of development taking place in and around the Neighbourhood. It comprises a small group of local volunteers, with many years experience of life in our community and expertise in architecture, engineering, planning policy, the environment, law and local government.
The PWG has the over-arching objective of working to achieve the vision for our area described in the Neighbourhood Plan. That is to create a neighbourhood with a broad range of residential, leisure and commercial uses, accessible to a widening range of residents, and remaining attractive to residents, workers and visitors alike for years to come. The PWG seeks to do this by the following activities:
Reviewing individual planning applications concerning land use within the Neighbourhood, and those falling outside our area but which are expected to have appreciable effect on it, for example through additional traffic, impact on our local amenities, pressure on public services etc.
Providing input to major planning policies and statements affecting the Neighbourhood, such as the City Council's Local Plan;
Raising awareness of important matters relating to development and planning policy within the Neighbourhood Forum and wider community;
Monitoring compliance by developers with planning conditions on significant developments; and
Keeping our Neighbourhood Plan under review and developing proposals to update it and make it more effective.
Examples of some of the policy statements and developments recently reviewed by the PWG include:
Major housing developments between Kidlington and north Oxford
Oxford City Council local plan
Oxford North development
‘Stavertonia’ University College Annexe re-development
Hotel expansions such as at Linton Lodge and Galaxie Hotel
Various housing developments along Woodstock Road
Stratfield Brake proposed OUFC football ground
A list of all planning applications reviewed since 2024 to date is available here.
We hold public meetings every year and conduct periodic surveys of our mailing list. The PWG would always appreciate additional help and if you are interested in volunteering, please contact the Secretary.