District Council January 2022 report

Published: 11 January 2022

SODC Monthy Briefing - January 2022

Cllr Caroline Newton, Haseley Brook Ward

Planning

Little Sparrows, Sonning Common: SODC decided in December to end its legal challenges against a proposal to build a 133 home care village in Sonning Common. The Inspector’s finding was based on an assessment that SODC no longer has a 5 Year Housing Land Supply, which has implications for planning decisions across the district.

Joint Local Plan

Scoping work is continuing for the next Local Plan (LP2041). The Call for Sites closed on 30 September, and they will be published in the new year.

Housing

The housing team continue to see a significant increase in the number of contacts from residents at risk of homelessness compared to the previous year. Since March 2020, 97 households have been placed in emergency accommodation, of whom 78 have subsequently been moved on to long-term accommodation. The number of rough sleepers in the district continues to fall — and at the end of December, zero rough sleepers were recorded here for the first time since 2013.This partly reflects the work being done by the council to identify and work with people at risk of homelessness to prevent rough sleeping in the first place.

Affordable housing

SODC uses funding from s.106 payments from developers to deliver affordable housing. There is a target to build 280 affordable homes in 2021-22, of which 214 had been completed by Nov 2021.

Water resource South East

WRSE is continuing its work to ensure security of water supply per the next 50-100 years.

a public consultation on a draft regional plan is due to open on 17 January.

Grants

The SODC Capital Grant Scheme closed on 17 Dec. It received 18 applications to the value of £575,000 - £255,000 over the £320,000 budget.

The Councillor Community Grants Scheme is open until 4 Feb. I have a total of £5,000 to distribute to community schemes this year. If you are considering applying on behalf of your group or organisation please get in touch - or for more information follow this link: https://www.southoxon.gov.uk/south-oxfordshire-district-council/community-support/grants/councillor-community-grants/