A SERIES of meetings which will decide what Oxford could look like in the future and where new homes could be built starts tomorrow.
The Oxford Local Plan inspection will last until Thursday, December 19.
Throughout the three weeks of hearings, planning inspectors from the government will consider suggestions Oxford City Council has made for where new homes, businesses and other buildings should be built in the city.
Inspectors will begin their inquiry into the Local Plan 2036 by asking if Oxford City Council’s goal of building 1,400 each year is needed.
They will also look at the environmental constraints facing Oxford and the surrounding area.
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On Tuesday, December 10, inspectors will look at the city council’s hopes to re-open the Oxford Stadium in Cowley.
Earlier this month, the city council cabinet approved an amendment to the draft local plan which focussed on the stadium.
This amendment would allow the council to bring the stadium back into use by acting as a ‘broker’ between its current owner and a new owner.
At its meeting on November 13, the cabinet also approved the ability to use a compulsory purchase order to buy the stadium from the current owner if they do not co-operate with the council’s proposals.
The preparations by the cabinet to bring the stadium back into use will now be scrutinised by the planning inspectors, who will have the final say over whether the scheme can go ahead.
Several sites around the city are also up for discussion as potential places where new homes can be built.
These include the recreation grounds of several Oxford University colleges and former playing fields, including one at William Morris Close, where planning permission was recently granted for 86 homes.
Anyone is able to attend the public hearings to watch the discussion and hear residents air concerns.
They begin at 10am tomorrow at 10am in the King’s Centre, Osney Mead Industrial Estate, Oxford.
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