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In recognition of the interest expressed and representations made particularly in respect of housing provision and distribution the Council decided to hold a special meeting at which interested persons had the opportunity to directly address councillors with their views on the Core Strategy prior to any further decisions being made. This meeting was held on 14th September 2011.
Minutes of the meeting are available at the following location - http://www.westoxon.gov.uk/council/meetings.cfm/2612
Arrangements for the meeting: 1. Requests to Speak
More than 160 requests to speak have been received the opportunity to register to speak at the meeting has now passed. The Council is keen to hear views, and this will inevitably be a very long meeting. Accordingly, please bear in mind the comments below, and please let us know either now or in advance of the meeting if you cannot now attend or no longer wish to address the councillors. 2. Venue The meeting will take place in the Corn Exchange, Market Square, Witney. For details of car parks in Witney, please see http://www.westoxon.gov.uk/environment/ParkinginWitney.cfm for the webpage and http://www.westoxon.gov.uk/files/download/8503-3785.pdf for a plan showing the location of Witney car parks. Please be aware that some spaces are limited to one or three hours, but that there are also spaces for five, nine and 12 hours. 3. Timing and Duration The meeting will begin at 10 am. The meeting will proceed as follows: 10 am to approximately 12:30 pm (with admission from approximately 9:45 am) - speakers wishing to address issues other than those relating to the Carterton housing sites. Approximately 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm - speakers wishing to address issues primarily relating to the expansion of Carterton. Please be aware that the timings can only be approximate and the proceedings will be lengthened if necessary. The Carterton session will NOT begin before 1:30 pm 4. Order of Speakers For the morning session there is a wide variety of subjects to be addressed but, where appropriate, we will call speakers according to the issues/locality - so, for example, the speakers who wish to raise matters relevant to Chipping Norton will be called one after the other. The first to be called will be those who are wishing to address district-wide matters. In the afternoon/evening, the sequence will be: • Developers/agents etc • Other speakers by locality and then firstly those who are speaking on behalf of a Town or Parish Council and secondly other speakers in order of the receipt of the request. This will begin with those from Alvescot, and then those from Black Bourton, Brize Norton, Broadwell etc. It is hoped that grouping them in this way will provide continuity of interest and also help to prevent the possibility of excessive repetition 5. List of Speakers It is hoped that by reference to the list, some speakers who know others wishing to speak on the same issue will be able to liaise with a view to agreeing that one or more may act as a spokesperson. In view of the volume of requests, it could also be helpful to the overall efficiency of the meeting, and in the interests of those people waiting to speak in the afternoon session, if households where more than one person has asked to speak could consider agreeing that only one will do so. 6. Calling of Speakers The Chairman will have a list of speakers and will call them in turn, in the sessions and order described above. 7. Length of Presentations and Other Meetings Issues Each speaker will be allowed a maximum of four minutes. Following each presentation, Councillors may ask questions of fact and/or clarification. In the interests of the overall efficiency of the meeting: • Speakers will not be able to continue beyond the maximum four minutes • Speakers will be advised when they are nearing the end of their maximum time In order to ensure full understanding, please be aware that: • There will not be any debate on issues raised • No decisions are to be taken at the meeting - it is solely an exercise to seek to maximise councillor awareness of the issues and concerns raised by interested persons • There will not be an opportunity to ask questions of Councillors or Council employees • The draft LDF Core Strategy will be decided by the Council later in the year prior to a further round of statutory consultation 8. Record of Meeting and Copies of Submissions A brief record will be made of who speaks and the main issues to which they refer, but it will not be possible to produce a full/verbatim record. Accordingly, speakers are encouraged to bring a copy of what they are going to say, but this is not obligatory. However, please note that it will not be possible to circulate copies at the meeting as that is likely to disrupt/lengthen the proceedings. 9. Public Meeting The meeting will, of course, be open for the public to attend whether or not they have requested to speak. Subject to capacity, you are welcome to stay for as much of the proceedings as you wish. The public seating at the Corn Exchange is for approximately 150 people, and cannot be exceeded. If either everyone who has responded attends, and/or there are many people who wish to attend but only to listen, it will be necessary to manage access to the meeting room. Consultation Documents
Consultation LinksConsultation Summary
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