7 March 2018

The Chairman and councillors Faringdon Town Council

DISTRICT COUNCILLOR’S REPORT TO 14 MARCH 2018 MEETING

1. Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal. Vale of White Horse District Council agreed theDealat council on 14 February 2018. This was based on a commitment from government and partner councils to address a number of ‘red-lines’ which aimed to protect the council from uncontrolled development.By agreeing the Deal, it secured £150,000 million funding for Oxfordshire, with the hope of additional cash in the future and £60 million for Affordable Housing. The council had already succeeded in securing £9 million funding the Lodge Hill junction in Abingdon and the £8 million funding towards the Wantage Eastern link road. Additionally, it negotiated a number of benefits to protect our existing local plan.The Deal would see councils establish a Joint Statutory Spatial Plan (JSSP) for Oxfordshire to improve co-ordinated planning across the county. We will consider the most appropriate way to consult residents about the JSSP in due course. Importantly, we made it clear that this plan must not allocate housing sites and will put no additional pressure on the Vale before 2031.

2. Vale of White Horse District Council Local Plan Part 2. Part 2 of the plan was submitted to the Secretary of State on 23 February 2018. It is anticipated that the examination in public will take place in early summer.

3. Environment. (1) Vale Deep Clean Programme. The annual deep clean of Great Faringdonparish was conducted by the councilcontractor Biffa from 12 to 22 February 2018. This wasin addition to the periodic litter pick. (2) The council has agreed to fund an Environmental Improvement Team to improve the look of public areas across the district. (3) With the growing number of electric vehicles on the roads £20K has been allocated towards a feasibility study into providing charging points at council car parks.

3. Planning – P17/V1310. The council approved the development of the ex-Tectronics site at 5 Lechlade Road on 9 February 2018 for 14 dwellings with associated access. The original reference was P13/V2310/O dated 13 February 2013, which was amended by a Planning Statement dated 23 November 17.

4. Vale for Business. The Vale 4 Business Annual Breakfast event took place on Tuesday 20 February at the Electron Building, Harwell campus. There were presentations from leading businessmen and over 250 delegates attended, including a couple of people from Faringdon. I passed my delegates pack to the town clerk for your information in case some of you might be interested in attending future events.

Roger Cox

District Councillor

Faringdon Ward