Sustainable Communities and Accommodating Growth (Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats)

Sustainable Communities and Accommodating Growth

September 11, 2007 12:00 AM
By Cllr Zoé Patrick in County Council meeting

I want to talk about ensuring that infrastructure is provided early in new housing development to enable communities to grow in a sustainable way.

This is not given much mention in the themes, but is hugely important for the future and cuts across many things that we do.

I would like to refer to p. 42 where this is listed under

5.12 Spatial Oxfordshire.

• Shaping thriving communities - not just about bricks and mortar but about how to foster thriving communities.

• How important partnerships are is crucial here, health, police etc.

• Even mention in the final bullet point in this theme about the impact of increased storms, flooding and droughts on the built environment. All this para. Is hugely important and relevant.

Accommodating growth

• All this is hugely relevant in the recent news we have received regarding the South East plan and getting the balance right between housing and employment. I don't need to rehearse the whole argument here today, because the Leader knows full well what it is all about and he knows the pressures this causes where employment and housing are not located closely together and causing massive commuting by car. Let us address this.

• Again in the bullet point about timely infrastructure provision, east-west rail, public transport, leisure facilities, green infrastructure, children's facilities. Let us make all this a priority message for this council. Let us call on our partners to support us in this because this is vital to the thriving communities agenda.

• I am a little cautious about 'smart growth' because this is a buzz word which I don't believe people will understand. We don't just need high technology firms, we do need all kinds of employment to cater for all diversity of skills across the whole of Oxfordshire. Not everyone is a computer technician or a scientist. There are some people who have to be plumbers or packers in warehouses, and indeed at Milton Park, we know that some of those industries rely on those skills to get their products into the market. So let us be realistic here.

And later in the debate on where we discuss addressing specific housing and transport issues of young people and the elderly and where we have to think about community led planning.

We are all frontline councillors in our own divisions and we can be seen as community champions, but if we do that, then we have to be sure that when we come to this council to take part in a debate as we have done today, then the issues we have spoken about and feel passionate about will be listened to and taken forward.

I would like to see this Council committed to making sure our developers of new housing, our partners in industry and providers in health all show this willingness to look into the future and plan accordingly. Plan for new health centres, plan for new industry, plan for children's nurseries, or sheltered housing for the elderly. We have heard a lot about the 'demographic challenge'. Let us rise to that challenge and ensure there is sufficient provision for the elderly within our new housing developments.

Let us ensure we build our schools with provision for sharing our leisure facilities to benefit the whole community. Let us bring our communities together by enabling those shared facilities.

Plan for good public transport. Ensure we have adequate discussion with the rail and bus providers. Ensure good bus shelters and good access for public transport. If we start with good public transport then people may be persuaded away from their cars.

Build cycle tracks and good pedestrian access to our houses and shopping facilities. Make sure the firms and industries have their green travel plans. If all this work is done right at the beginning in a timely fashion, we shall all be winners. Communities will begin in a sustainable way, they will be able to build on their strengths and make their places a truly pleasant place in which to work and live.

This is a real opportunity to make things right, to plan properly for the future and to take the lead in Oxfordshire. Let us rise to that challenge.

Oxfordshire Liberal Democrats