Title: AGENDA ITEM
Author: carhu
Last saved by: Linda Maitland
Company: Oxford County Council

CG7 - page

ANNEX 1

Oxfordshire Community Partnership Draft Community Strategy:

Consultation Responses to date

Do you support the 8 ambitions as outlined in the draft strategy | Please explain | Are there any additional areas you feel should be considered as part of the draft?
Yes | No | |
| N | Indicators are more useful than vague priorities.  Some ambitions contradict one another, e.g. housing and environment. | Diversity.  Reducing car travel and increasing public and other forms of transport. The transport ambition is unambitious.
Mostly | | Environment: the first priority makes sense in the urban environment, but is negative for the rural environment. | Biodiversity.
Y | | | Conservation of wildlife.  Specify Oxon's BAP in the "Ambitions", build on the "Strong Messages". Noise pollution vs. peacefulness.
Y | | | Reference to people with disabilities within each relevant priority area.  People with disabilities supported to find employment.
Y | | In particular, we are supportive of the ambition for transport. | No
Y | | Both Environment and Health fail to comment on the need for action to reduce and adapt to climate change. | Energy efficiency and affordable warmth to people's health and well-being.
Y | | |
Y | | | Rural areas - their particular needs and priorities, i.e. transport - the Rural Health and Well-being Network has highlighted this priority.
| | See copy annotated by Charles Waddicor, comments on pages 6, 11 and 13. |
| | One more talking shop will not make any difference. | Increase of lawlessness and yob culture.  It is a widely held belief, certainly in Didcot, where I live that the Police have given up.  Their response times to incidents certainly suggest that.
Y | | |
Y | | The priority "achieve sustainable agriculture": it must be defines so that it satisfies both farmers and environmental experts - which is considered unachievable at current population levels. | No explicit mention of the natural environment.
Y | | | No obvious section where local environmental groups, of which there are at least 110, can buy into the strategy, with so many groups and growing numbers, they should be supported.
Y | | |
Y | | | No mention of Road Safety, this was identified as a priority in four out of the five District consultations.  Much of the current work in E&E is aimed at reducing fears in the community by cutting speed of traffic.
Y | | Applauds cultural, family and racial equality ambitions. | Spiritual dimension, admits difficulty due to multicultural diversity but need to acknowledge God.
Y | | Document has been circulated to all Parish Councillors.  Great Coxwell Parish Council fully supports this strategy |
| N | The ambitions and goals  are unobtainable .  Very little infrastructure in place in Oxfordshire for such ambitions | The grass roots of the ambitions laid out.
| N | Much more need to be done to encourage people to switch to public transport. | The Park & Ride bus service and car park facilities are poor in comparison to other cities. Traffic congestion on A40 form Witney discourages use of public transport, as people rather wait in own car, than in a bus.

Y

I particularly applaud the need for more affordable housing.

South-east weighting to national pay structures, many nurses, teachers etc pay rents in Oxford comparable with outer London.  Improve roads, as many find it impossible to utilise public transport, due to shifts, safety (ie: walking from bus stops) and heavy bags (i.e. folders and books to mark).
Is there a countywide drugs strategy?

N

Transport strategy ignores the problems of most areas of the County

New/restored railway stations at Grove/Wantage, Kidlington.
Dual A40 from Oxford to Witney, bypass with cycle and bus lanes if necessary.  Leeds and Bradford schemes show that GRE scheme is an eyesore and not well used. High speed tram/light railway from Witney and Bicester to Oxford, through to the JR and Brookes.  Dual the main Oxford-Henley and Reading roads or at least do a strategy for them.

| N | | Streets need cleaning up, and not just the needs of deprived areas should be considered, other areas also just as important.
Y | | I wholeheartedly agree with the 8 ambitions of the draft strategy and believe that as a local employer, QEK Global Solutions (UK) Ltd, contributes and supports the strategy. |
Y | | All key to the future of the county as both a desirable place to live, work and play. | Biodiversity, preferably as an environment priority, perhaps by amending priority 2 to read 'educate for a biodiverse and sustainable future' and a specific mention under the 'How?' heading.
Y | | Endorses all of it except one sentence | The priority 'Make Oxfordshire the cleanest county in the country' creates unrealistic pressures and undermines the viability of Autotype's operations.  Request that a more realistic Environmental Priority Statement be adopted: 'Deliver measurable year on year improvements to the Environment of Oxfordshire'.
| Y | Everyday living depends to a great degree on those 8 ambitions | Add to Safe and Supportive Communities priority "to Cultivate temperance"
| Y | Strongly supports Initiative | Difficulty in recruiting keyworkers into public services because of housing costs and lack of affordable housing. Socially disadvantaged groups and BME's need to be targetted for recruitment and training.  Potential for Brookes University to target disadvantaged sectors of the community to encourage people for training in health sector skills.
Y | | _ | Transport to rural communities
Y | | See full letter.  Believe housing to be cross cutting all the other areas - can't have sustainable communities and so on without the right type of housing at right price for people/area. | See full letter.  Remit of the KW&HAG is too narrow.  We need to address the broader problems of affordability not just special funding opportunities.  Need greater 'private sector' involvement in OCP, the best chance of getting significant amounts of affordable housing will be through provision, voluntarily or by planning regulations, of land by landowners and development by developers.  I would like to be involved with OCP, particularly housing issues.
Y | | It is comprehensive and achievable.  Are there resources to sustain the strategy? | Under Safe and Supportive Communities, please include Racial Harassment/Racially motivated Crime.  Why no mention of Diversity principles?
Y | | | Affordable housing needed in all areas not just the key workers. My daughter is married with two young children under four, her husband earns around £22,000 with overtime, she used to work in a shop until she had her second child and it was not worth her working or she lost the Family Tax Credit.

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Housing for Key Workers.
We have lost 2 staff in the year due to unaffordable cost of housing in Oxford.  At present, there are three care managers in our office who are single income 'households'.  All of us have to share houses as we can't afford to rent a suitable flat/studio/bedsit.  I have not found any suitable accommodation for less than £650.00 rent per month.  Add bills, Council Tax, and outgoings exceed 50% of monthly income, then there are living expenses.  At present, two care managers are considering leaving the County as a result.  Suggestion: look into subsidised rent on appropriate accommodation for single income singletons.  Buying a property is not the best option for all, and I wouldn't mind renting affordable suitable property.  Could this matter be investigated?

Y | | | A higher priority for conservation and re-establishment of habitat and diversity in the countryside.
Y | | Tourism businesses have expressed concern that many employees are lacking basic skills in customer service, hopefully the investment you make in the basic development will help tourism businesses | Focus on Key worker recruitment and retainment may detract from problems facing many other business sectors.  Tourism are experiencing problems with staff recruitment and retention related to housing costs.  There is a need for more affordable housing to help all sectors of public and businesses employment.
Y | | Wroxton Parish Council members felt that the affordable housing should be the main priority. | Brown field sites should be used before green field.
Y | | An excellent and comprehensive strategy | No
Y | | However aims are too high, may not be successful | In Particular Elderly, Health and well-being, and especially access to these services.
Y | | Very important is the over used word 'sustainable' - in other words leaving the county in at least as good a condition when we leave it as when we enter it. | My view is couples like my daughter and son in law do not stand a chance of getting on the housing ladder at all. We need to bring back a type of rented council housing (which they would not be able to pay on the cheap) which would enable local village children to stay in the village they have grown up in and would like their children to grow up in.
Total Number of Responses | 38 | |

CG_MAR0404R04.doc