Fears development corporation will 'hoover up' local powers
BBCConcerns are growing over the powers of a proposed development corporation for Greater Oxford.
Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, Calum Miller, said he's worried the government would "hoover up" planning powers and decisions about what should be built "will be taken in London and not locally."
But Chair of the Oxford Growth Commission, Neale Coleman said it was "reasonable" for the government to have a "single focused organisation" to deliver the programme with £800 million being invested in the area.
Run by central government, the body is designed to speed up major development along the Oxford to Cambridge corridor, bringing in investment, building more homes and creating jobs.
A consultation on the development corporation, including its powers, objectives and geographical area, is planned for the end of the year.
Concerns have also been raised by people living in more rural areas, impacted by large scale developments planned for the area.
Paul Fennemore lives in the village of Somerton, between Bicester and Banbury, and is part of the North Oxford Residents Association. Within a three mile radius of his home, Heyford Park New Town, a railway freight interchange, large scale warehousing and the Puy du Fou theme park could all be built.
He says local influence is essential in planning decisions. "That's not just having interesting discussions with people to appease them, that's about making sure constructive plans and ideas are funded and executed and put into place."
Speaking on BBC Radio Oxford, Coleman said the corporation was important following "some failings" with local authority planning.
"We had a housing growth deal which released a lot of money to local councils and they said we will deliver - over a long period - a hundred thousand homes. They're only going to deliver 60 thousand. That's a real problem for everyone in the county.
"If you're going to invest on the scale that Rachel Reeves is talking about, then you need an assurance it's going to be delivered well and properly," he added.
Miller said the lack of homes was not a sign of the local planning system failing, but a problem with infrastructure. Taking a development in north west Bicester as an example, Miller said that nine thousand homes had not been built because there is not enough electricity.
"The developers are good to go, but they just can't get started because there is no electricity. It's a good example of a local planning authority doing its job, but it's not working because of things outside of its control which are to do with the national grid."
Coleman also spoke on the challenges facing growth in Oxfordshire, saying it was "conceivable" that Thames Water could receive funding through the £800 million announced by the government. "We're not just going to hand over money to Thames Water" he said, but "there may be some examples where we need to step in and look at other ways in which we can do big changes to sewerage."
He also confirmed his personal involvement in finding a solution to providing a doctors' surgery for the Great Western Park estate in Didcot. "I agreed specifically to go away and really delve in to why the NHS finds it so difficult, in areas of growth, to support new GP practices, because we're going to need that," he said.
When asked about spending the £800 million from central government, Coleman said he was hoping to start by the end of the year.
