Peter Rose, the chairman of the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) Steering Committee writes:
“It’s all gone quiet and we are aware that several people who have spoken to us have assumed that this means that the revisions to the NDP have failed. There have certainly been some hiccups but we are still on course.
A quick re-cap: There are two consultations required before the NDP can go for examination, called Regulation 14 and 16. At the Regulation 16 stage, issues concerning mineral reserves in Long Wittenham were raised that required amendment of the NDP and a further Regulation 16 consultation on the amendments that we made. During this second consultation, issues were raised about the way we had dealt with the possible archaeological remains on our chosen site. After consideration, the examiner decided that we had to do more work on this issue.
These issues are very technical and complex and so we have had to rely on the help of South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) and their expert advisers with these issues. SODC are awaiting responses from their advisers and expect these by the end of July. Although the wait is frustrating it is important that we get everything right so that the NDP cannot be challenged in the future. Meanwhile the original NDP is still legally binding on any developments that might come forward.”
