12 April 2014

“Wouldn’t it be great if people in the Oxfordshire villages looked over their Cotswold stone walls at the new development in the fields behind and said ‘You know, I’d love it if our children could bring up their children here’.”

8 April 2014

This Oxford Mail article brings together Oxford Futures, Ian Hudspeth’s Connecting Oxfordshire and the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA).

7 April 2014

Oxford Civic Society welcomes Ian Hudspeth’s analysis that with 85,000 more jobs and 106,000 more homes coming to Oxfordshire by 2031 getting transport strategy right is crucial. We agree that wherever possible jobs and homes should be close together – ideally within walking or cycling distance. Where that is not possible we need to see excellent public transport provided from day 1.

7 April 2014

On 3 April Ian Hudspeth, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, presented his vision for new transport networks in the county. Around 80,000 new jobs and 100,000 new homes are expected to come to the county by 2031. Under the title “Connecting Oxfordshire” Ian Hudspeth outlined how the County Council is rising to the challenge of ensuring that investment in transport matches growth in jobs, housing and hi-tech industry beyond 2020.

5 April 2014

The Vale of White Horse District Council is preparing a revised Local Plan to meet the need for new housing outlined in the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) – briefly described here. VoWH needs to find sites for roughly 20,500 new homes by 2031. Harwell and Radley have been identified as particularly significant locations for development, with Harwell assigned 4500 homes and Radley 800.

3 April 2014

Central Oxfordshire is at a critical point in its development. If local authorities and other agencies work together the area can be a model for ‘smarter growth’. But if each considers only short-term priorities, the area will lose its position as the home of a world class university and 21st century knowledge-based enterprises. This is the basis of the report “Oxford Futures – Achieving Smarter Growth” and its “Call for Action” summary whose launch on 31 March 2014 drew a high level audience to hear five short but challenging responses.