The National Planning Policy Framework process for co-operation between local planning authorities grinds exceedingly slow, but it eventually delivers, and the Oxfordshire authorities are now agreed that we will accommodate 97,000 new homes across the county in the next 15 years.
Working together we are delivering an ambitious City Deal with three Enterprise Zones (Harwell, Didcot and Milton Park), two Garden Towns (Bicester and Didcot), major developments around the station in Oxford and a range of specialist ‘big science’ and research facilities.
We are already exploiting the potential of the unique knowledge economy ecosystem that has developed around the University of Oxford – currently ranked number one in the world – but much more is in prospect.
Together, this makes Oxfordshire one of the country’s principal resources for high-quality, knowledge-based growth. Rest