Charlbury Neighbourhood Development Plan Update
Housing
West Oxfordshire’s District Council’s Local Plan, which sets out how much new housing is needed and where, has been going through a formal Examination. The outcome has been very interesting for Charlbury. The Local Plan splits the district into sub-areas. We are in the Burford-Charlbury subarea, where WODC had said 1,213 new homes would be needed between 2011 and 2031. The Local Plan also identified the site north of Jefferson’s Piece for a development of 40 houses.
The Planning Inspector is content with the Local Plan overall, but disagreed with WODC’s approach towards Charlbury. The Inspector believes that, since our sub-area is almost entirely within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), any future development should show overall benefits to the AONB and the communities living within it, rather than being simply to meet the West Oxfordshire housing target. The Inspector has advised against the inclusion of four sites in the Burford-Charlbury sub-area (including the land off Jefferson's Piece) within the Local Plan, but that itself does not preclude development and the developers' application (17/02376/FUL) for 48 homes remains outstanding.
This is a great opportunity for our Neighbourhood Plan to set out what Charlbury’s real housing needs are. Being situated as we are within the AONB and surrounded by land of high landscape and wildlife importance, the scope for Charlbury to grow is very limited. But we do need some development if we are going to meet the needs of existing residents, both young and old, and to keep a good mix of people of all ages living in the town to support local shops, the school and the great range of clubs and societies. Exactly what scale and mix of housing Charlbury needs is the key question we are working on in the Neighbourhood Plan.
We think the town needs smaller-size and lower-cost housing rather than the “executive homes” often proposed by developers. We would like to see homes for first-time buyers, young families and people of working age who are often priced out of Charlbury. We are interested in a shared-equity scheme for essential workers in local schools, hospitals and other vital services.
We also need more housing suitable for elderly and disabled people. This could allow older residents to downsize to more manageable properties if they wish, without leaving the town. Those who can no longer live independently due to frailty, illness or disability also need housing options. And building more 1 and 2 bedroom social-rented properties would help meet a current shortage.
We aim to have a public consultation on the Plan in the Spring, once the full document has been written and agreed by the Town Council. But in the meantime, anyone in Charlbury is welcome to share their views or to help develop parts of the Plan. Please contact us on .
Heritage, green space and wildlife
We had a fantastic response to our request for volunteers to assess Charlbury’s streets, open spaces and surrounding countryside to create a record of the parish’s unique character and heritage. The volunteers took to the streets in October and November and produced reports of a brilliant quality. Their work will help to produce a “Character Assessment” which will be available shortly. This will help us develop any new policies that might be needed in the Neighbourhood Plan to conserve and enhance the town’s character for future generations to enjoy.
We have now moved on to assess a number of the town’s green spaces to see whether they could qualify for formal protection as “Local Green Space”. Any site that is designated as “Local Green Space” in the Neighbourhood Plan will have protection from future development similar to Green Belt status. Sites need to have a special value to the local community, for example because of their beauty, historic importance, recreational value, tranquility or the richness of their wildlife. A team of volunteers is working through the list of sites for assessment, which can be seen on our website, The consultation on the Neighbourhood Plan will be a chance for anyone to put forward views on the green spaces to be designated, and any comments are also welcome to
The first in a series of reports produced for the Neighbourhood Plan is now available on our website The Charlbury Biodiversity Report shows which important species of animals and plants have been found within the parish, and also where protected habitats and wildlife sites are located. This is one of the pieces of information that will help us develop the Plan. We hope that by the time the Chronicle arrives on doormats we will also have published our Housing Needs Assessment and Character Assessment. Both will be on our website when available.
Finally, we would like to extend a big thank you to all the volunteers who have given their time to the Character Assessment and Local Green Space work.
Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group