Oxfordshire Housing Plan for Thousands of Homes Under Review

A proposal outlining the construction of thousands of new homes in Oxfordshire is slated for consideration by senior councillors next month, potentially leading to its approval. The majority of the residences detailed in Cherwell District Council’s local plan have appeared in earlier, approved versions of the document. Under the most recent scheme, 7,800 new dwellings are projected for Bicester, 6,500 for Banbury, and an additional 4,400 near Kidlington, all to be completed before 2042. The development near Kidlington received High Court approval in 2021 following a legal dispute and is intended to address Oxford’s outstanding housing requirements. Out of the total 24,580 homes envisioned in the updated local plan, approximately 4,500 have already been constructed. This includes roughly 1,600 in Banbury, 1,400 in Bicester, and 170 in the vicinity of Kidlington. The council indicated that the revised plan incorporates an extra 3,185 residential units. The council’s overview and scrutiny committee is scheduled to review the most recent version of the plan during an extraordinary meeting on November 12. The committee’s findings will then be forwarded to the authority’s executive body, which is expected to vote on the plan’s approval on December 2, preceding a public consultation period. This consultation is projected to run for six weeks, with an additional two-week extension planned to accommodate the Christmas and New Year holidays. Among the potential locations identified for new housing is a site situated south-east of Woodstock, designated for 450 residences.