South Oxfordshire Local Plan: YOUR INPUT REQUIRED

As you may be aware, the emerging South Oxfordshire Local Plan is at Examination stage. Following recent examination hearings, the Inspector has asked the council to prepare a ‘Schedule of Proposed Main Modifications’ to the plan.

The schedule reflects the modifications that are considered necessary by the Inspector to make the plan 'sound' before it can move to the adoption stage. These are the only significant changes that can be made to the plan now.

We are carrying out a six-week consultation on the Proposed Main Modifications and are asking for comments. There is no need to resubmit comments (representations) made at the Local Plan submission stage or in matters statements as your comments have already been considered as part of the Examination.

The Proposed Main Modifications consultation runs from 21 September until midnight on 2 November 2020. 

How to view the consultation documents and take part
To view the Proposed Main Modification documents please visit our website.

The consultation documents are also available at the public locations listed below. Before travelling, please check their opening times and check any Covid-19 and social distancing arrangements they have in place. Note that the availability of these documents at these locations might change in response to the ongoing pandemic.

• Public libraries in South Oxfordshire – for opening hours search ‘libraries’ here
• Chalgrove Post Office
• Culham Parish Council (contact Cllr Casey-Rerhaye to arrange viewing documents: Sam.Casey-Rerhaye@southoxon.gov.uk or 01235 799489)

The consultation documents are also available at the district council offices on Milton Park on an appointment-only basis as the offices are currently closed to the public. Please contact us on 01235 422600 or email planning.policy@southoxon.gov.uk to book an appointment or if you need support to access the consultation materials.

How to take part in the consultation
To give your views on the Emerging South Oxfordshire Local Plan: Proposed Main Modifications Consultation we encourage you to use the online survey available from this link https://survey.southandvale.gov.uk/s/SouthLocalPlanMainMods/?m=48360086c5ouk

This link is uniquely tied to this survey and to your email address. If you would like to forward this message to any interested parties please refer them to our website where there is a public link to the survey.

Responses can also be made: 

• via email, completing a comment form (available from our website) and emailing it to planning.policy@whitehorsedc.gov.uk, or
• via post, completing a comment form (available from our website) and posting it to SOUTH AND VALE CONSULTATIONS (no stamp is needed and no further address is needed).

Next steps
After the consultation ends, a copy of your response will be published on our website and sent to the Planning Inspector to consider. The Inspector will consider all the comments submitted before finalising his examination report recommending whether the Local Plan is ‘sound’ or whether it can be made ‘sound’ with modifications. Further public hearing sessions will not usually be held following the Main Modifications consultation, unless the Inspector considers them essential. The Inspector’s Report will be published on the council’s website in due course.

Data protection
Your name, contact details and comments will be shared with the Planning Inspector and a Programme Officer, who acts as a point of contact between the Council, Inspector and respondents. This means that you may be contacted by the Programme Officer or the Council with updates and in relation to any necessary consultations on the Local Plan. This is in accordance with Regulation 19 and 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012, Regulation 13 of The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 and Regulation 102 of The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.

We have received assurance that the data passed to the Planning Inspector and Programme Officer will be kept securely and not used for any other purpose. The Inspector and Programme Officer will retain the data up to six months after the plan has been adopted.

Comments submitted by individuals will be published on our website, alongside their name. No other contact details will be published. Comments submitted by businesses and/or organisations will be published, including contact details. Please refer to our Privacy Notice regarding how your personal data is used for this consultation. If you would like to know more about the council’s data protection registration or to find out about your personal data, please visit our website.

If you have any queries relating to this consultation, or require it in an alternative format, please email haveyoursay@southoxon.gov.uk or call 01235 422425.

If you know anyone you think would be interested in this consultation, who does not have access to the internet or needs support to access the consultation materials, we would appreciate your help in telling them about it. Please ask them to call us on 01235 422600 or email planning.policy@southoxon.gov.uk and our team will be happy to help.

Yours sincerely


Adrian Duffield
Head of Planning
South Oxfordshire District Council