This afternoon I chaired the Vale's Cabinet meeting which discussed the thorny issue of the Core Strategy. This is the document that sets out the strategic housing sites for the Vale until 2028/29. We have spent the last year reassessing the proposals put forward by the previous Lib Dem Council, and have come up with some fundamental changes to the previous plans. Rural areas will be enabled to grow, so that rural communities do not simply become dormitories for those working in London, but can continue to remain and thrive as vibrant communities in their own right. We have also taken note of representations from Wantage and Harwell, where the Lib Dems had previously proposed to dump the bulk of the housing. In both of these locations there is a desire for new roads to help relieve current congestion, not to mention the additional traffic that would be caused by housing growth. The report agreed today includes a flexible approach. During the consultation process we will be looking to reduce the identified sites by 1,300 houses. This could mean significant reductions in the major housing developments planned. This will have to be balanced against the need for money for infrastructure. We will not allocate sites that cannot deliver the new roads and schools that will be required. This inbuilt flexibility could mean, for example, reducing the Wantage and Harwell allocations by as much as 500 houses each. This is a carefully considered response to the concerns that local people had about the previous proposals. There will now follow a consultation period, and the Cabinet will consider responses in due course. Housing plans are always a controversial matter, and I have no doubt that many people will have a view one way or the other about the proposals so far, but people should recognise that these are proposals for consultation only, and they are designed to be flexible to ensure that we can respond to local views. We must all remember however that the main concern that we should all have is to ensure that whatever plans are adopted that the necessary infrastructure is delivered alongside it. This is a difficult balancing act, housing is needed to cope with local demand and economic growth. Nevertheless large scale housing development puts often unbearable strain on local infrastructure. In order to ensure the developers contribute to the cost of infrastructure there needs to be a