Vale of White Horse District Council is drawing up a planning document known as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the shopping area of Botley, and will be asking the local community for its views and to contribute. A Supplementary Planning Document contains planning guidance to assist the redevelopment and improvement of a specific area, and sets out the type (eg shops, offices, houses public open space etc ) and scale of new development that could be appropriate for the location . The Supplementary Planning Document will be a huge benefit to everybody involved in the potential redevelopment of the shopping areas in Botley:
- most importantly, the local community will be able to contribute to the document and so influence any future developments in the area
- it will have material weight in planning terms and support the council in its decisions as to whether planning applications are suitable or sustainable
- it will help potential developers understand the expectations of the local community and council, whilst recognising that any development must be commercially viable.
The council will be asking local residents what they think the priorities are for the development of Botley shopping area which will be considered as part of the SPD. Consultation will start towards the end of July. As this will extend over the summer holidays the consultation will be for a longer period than normal . It is anticipated that we could adopt the document as supplementary guidance to our adopted local plan policies during the Autumn and so use it to support the determination of redevelopment planning applications after that date. If we need to update it to reflect our Local Plan 2031 once adopted, we will. Cllr Mike Murray, cabinet member for Planning Policy at the Vale, said: “What happens over the next year or so will have a huge impact on the kind of place Botley is for generations to come, so it’s vital we get it right for all parts of the community, young and old. This document will help make the whole process much better for everybody – it means the local community, the Vale Council as the planning authority, and potential developers are all working from the same script and we’ll end up with the right development for Botley.”