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Councillor warns new housing is in danger of overwhelming local communities
04/02/2025

Banbury’s MP says the council administration should stop making excuses and start delivering
The amount of new housing the Cherwell District is expected to deliver by the government “is in danger of overwhelming our local communities”: that was the warning from Councillor Rob Pattendon at a meeting of Cherwell District Council’s Executive last night.
They were considering the revised housing needs analysis based on the government’s new National Planning Policy Framework. Prior to the change – championed by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Raynor – 706 new homes needed to be built in the Cherwell District every year. That number has now increased to 1,118.
In addition, under the previous Conservative administration, Cherwell had agreed to take an extra 4,400 homes to offset Oxford City Council’s shortfalls.
This leaves Cherwell only able to demonstrate a forward supply of 2.3 years rather than 5 years stipulated in law.
Councillor Pattendon said: “To go from a 5.8 years land supply in November to a 2.3 year land supply now – the levels they are going to be forcing on districts like Cherwell, it really is in danger of overwhelming our local communities.”
The lack of a 5-year forward supply means there now must be a “presumption in favour of sustainable developments” meaning planning applications must be considered favourably, even if they are on land which has never been considered for houses, or where applications were rejected in the past.
The infrastructure needed to support new housing was also raised with concerns voiced over how electricity, water and sewage systems would cope. Councillor Phil Chapman pushed for the Executive to raise this with central government.
He said: “Until these major issues are resolved I can’t see that it will be possible to deliver these numbers. … If we don’t face into that and get a sensible discussion around that, all we will see will be houses dumped anywhere with no planning, no control, just to meet a blind number.”
When approved Cherwell’s new Local Plan will bring back some local control as to where houses are built, but that is unlikely to be approved until next year. Until then the council is implementing an action plan to speed up the delivery of over 8,000 homes which already have planning permission but are awaiting construction. The delivery of these homes will improve the forward supply position.
Councillor Jean Conway, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Development Management, said: “With over 8,000 homes with permission and a new Local Plan on the way, it is frustrating that the government has reintroduced a requirement to continuously demonstrate a five-year housing land supply.
“Despite Cherwell’s track record of delivery, the government’s changes mean that we return to the days when we must permit more development if housebuilders are unable to deliver at the necessary rate. This comes as we are doing the right thing by advancing a new Local Plan.”
Banbury’s MP defended the number of houses that must be built in the Cherwell District. Sean Woodcock said: “The government was elected only 6 months ago on a clear mandate.
“This is to deliver the growth that we need, as set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in her speech last week, but also to tackle the chronic housing crisis that we inherited from the Conservatives.
“In Cherwell this has manifest in a council housing waiting list that is 4 times the size of what it was a decade ago.
“Key to this was reform to our out-dated planning system that prioritised blockers over builders. We’ve also given local authority planning departments extra resource to get on with it.
“The administration should get with the programme, stop making excuses and start delivering for local people.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam