Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Environment

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/154

Contact: Susan Halliwell, Director of Planning & Place Tel: 07500 109185

Report by Corporate Director, Communities and Corporate Director,  Customers and Organisational Development (CA6).

This report introduces a first draft of a Strategic Vision for Oxfordshire (attached in Annex 1) as proposed by Oxfordshire Growth Board. The report explains the scope and content of the Vision including the timeline for the current engagement and finalisation of the Vision.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

(a)        Provide feedback on the Draft Strategic Vi:sion for Oxfordshire, appended in Annex 1 to the Oxfordshire Growth Board. The Draft Vision is presented for discussion and comments to help inform revisions prior to future Growth Board endorsement.

(b)        Delegate responsibility to Claire Taylor and Jason Russell to develop a response to the Strategic Vision engagement exercise, in consultation with the Leader, reflecting the views expressed at this meeting.

Cabinet considered a report that introduced a first draft of a Strategic Vision for Oxfordshire as proposed by Oxfordshire Growth Board.

Councillor Hudspeth in moving the recommendations, introduced the contents of the report and Vision document noting that Cabinet had been asked to provide feedback on the draft strategic vision developed by the Growth Board. He commented that it set out a positive long-term strategic vision for the whole of Oxfordshire up to 2050. Its aim was to improve the lives of all people in Oxfordshire based on a number of key principles and outcomes. The Vision would be used to create an agreed  set of long term strategic priorities for the social economic and environmental wellbeing in Oxfordshire, draw together the collective ambition in Oxfordshire for a zero carbon or even carbon negative future in Oxfordshire, collective vision in relation to the oxford-Cambridge Arc, inform the 2050 Plan as well as the strategies and policies of the local authorities and agencies. Councillor Hudspeth highlighted the key challenges and outcomes and noted that it highlighted the importance of safeguarding the natural environment. He emphasised that it would be important to measure progress to demonstrate delivery against the outcomes. No measures were proposed at this stage, but it was accepted that key indicators would be needed to hold the Growth Board to account and to provide a robust basis for decision making.

Paul Staines, Interim Head of Programme, Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal, made a presentation that explained the scope and content of the Vision including the timeline for the current engagement and finalisation of the Vision.

Responding to a question on the impact on delivery if the different organisations represented on the Growth Board interpreted the Vision differently the Leader advised that in setting the guiding principles it gave a framework that could provide the basis to refer to in the event of discussions. Paul Staines added that the principles in the Vision were set out a high level and this allowed for organisations to emphasise different elements dependent on the focus of their work.

During discussion Cabinet:

• Welcomed the ambition and timing of the Vision. The document and responses during consultation would bring together a sense of the ambition and vision of all the councils in Oxfordshire.
• Cabinet commended the efforts to define good growth particularly in light of and in support of the Housing and Growth Deal.
• Welcomed the decision of South Oxfordshire District Council to approve its Local Plan that ensured that it was possible to go ahead and plan the big housing infrastructure funding from Government.

RESOLVED:           to:

(a)      provide feedback on the Draft Strategic Vision for Oxfordshire, appended in Annex 1 to the Oxfordshire Growth Board. The Draft Vision is presented for discussion and comments to help inform revisions prior to future Growth Board endorsement;

(b)      delegate responsibility to Claire Taylor, Corporate Director Customers, Organisational Development and Resources and Jason Russell, Director Community Operations to develop a response to the Strategic Vision engagement exercise, in consultation with the Leader, reflecting the views expressed at this meeting.