Plan for thousands of new homes considered

A plan that proposes thousands of new homes for Oxfordshire could be approved by senior councillors next month.

Most of the homes proposed in Cherwell District Council’s local plan have been included in previously approved iterations of it.

The latest scheme would see 7,800 new homes built in Bicester, 6,500 in Banbury and another 4,400 near Kidlington before 2042.

The latter project was approved at the High Court after a legal battle in 2021 and will fulfil an unmet need for housing from Oxford.

Of all of the proposed 24,580 homes included in the new local plan, about 4,500 have already been built, including about 1,600 in Banbury, 1,400 in Bicester and 170 in and around Kidlington.

The council said the updated plan includes an additional 3,185 homes.

Its overview and scrutiny committee will consider the latest iteration of the plan at an extraordinary meeting on 12 November.

Its views will be passed on to the authority’s executive, which will be asked to approve the plan on 2 December, ahead of a public consultation.

That would last for six weeks and would be extended for another fortnight because of the Christmas and New Year period.

Sites that could be used for new housing include one south-east of Woodstock, which would be used for 450 homes.

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