Issue - meetings
Salt Cross Garden Village Area Action Plan (AAP)
Meeting: 05/06/2024 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 10)
10 Salt Cross Garden Village Area Action Plan (AAP) 
PDF 81 KB
Purpose
To provide an update on the Salt Cross Garden Village Area Action Plan (AAP).
Recommendation:
That the Committee resolves to:
1. Note the contents of the report.
Additional documents:
- Annex A - AAP written judgement 20 February 2024, item 10
PDF 371 KB
- Annex B - Letter from Planning Inspector 22 April 2024, item 10
PDF 111 KB
- Annnex C - Letter to Planning Inspector 8 May 2024, item 10
PDF 82 KB
Minutes:
The Planning Policy Manager introduced the report that provided an update on the Salt Cross Garden Village Area Action Plan (AAP).
Salt Cross was a planned new garden village community to the north of the A40 near Eynsham. The area was identified in the adopted Local Plan as a strategic location for growth and it was expected to include around 2,200 homes, a 40-hectare science and technology park along with schools, open space and other community facilities. To guide the future delivery of Salt Cross, the District Council was preparing a new Area Action Plan (AAP). Once adopted, the AAP would form part of the statutory development plan alongside the West Oxfordshire Local Plan 2031.The purpose of the report was to provide an update Members on the current timetable for taking the AAP through to formal adoption following a third-party legal challenge last year.
Furthermore, the Planning Inspectorate confirmed that the examination had been reopened and that a new Inspector - Helen Hockenhull BA(Hons) B.Pl MRTPI had been appointed. The Inspector wrote to the Council on the same day and a copy of her letter was attached at Annex B. The letter had also been published on the Garden Village Examination web page.
Questions were answered from Members and the following points were noted:
· There was a written ministerial statement published in December after the hearings in November; the two events were inter-related and provided authorities with instruction on what they could and could not do in regards to planning. However, the judge in the November hearing was not able to take the December statement into account. The Inspector would now be able to look into the issue and her letter attached to the report was clear on what needed to be done in reference to the ministerial statement. However, the current legal challenge would now need to be taken into account as well.
· The intention was to make Salt Cross as Net Zero as possible.
· There was a question of when the houses within the Salt Cross Garden village area would be built and it was explained that commencement would take place in 2026. However due to the challenge and issues that had occurred the timeframes would likely be pushed back to 2028.
RESOLVED that the Committee AGREED:
1. To note the contents of the report.