Agenda item

To receive and consider the report of the Deputy Town Clerk.

The Committee received and considered the report of the Deputy Town Clerk concerning the creation of a developer contribution list for the Council.

Members initially discussed the most appropriate forum for agreeing a list of priority projects which would become a working document. It was suggested that all members of the Council should be directly involved in the collation of the list in order to benefit from their wider expertise, however it was agreed that this Committee was the most suitable committee to develop the initial list which would then be submitted to Full Council for consideration and their agreement.

The Committee expressed their enthusiasm for the reconsideration of a Community Governance review to be carried out by West Oxfordshire District Council given the impact that would be felt from the increase in housing numbers on the boundary of the Witney Parish. It was noted that none of the current strategic planning developments were within the parish and therefore there would be no financial benefits to offset the impact that the town’s services would suffer, and the list would place a spotlight on Section 106 and 278 requests which would provide them. They welcomed the response of the Deputy Town Clerk who advised that a report was due to be presented to the meeting of Policy, Governance & Finance on 24 November 2025 on the subject.

Members were encouraged to reflect on potential projects and submit suggestions to Officers, as well as encourage fellow Councillors to contribute in respect of each of their own wards.

During the discussion, a difference of opinion arose between two Members regarding whether the functions performed by the Planning & Development Committee should be regarded as political, with one Member disputing any alternative view. It was noted that although, the Committee was bound to respond to applications in set ways, ideas on larger, more complex matters were often much more varied.

It was proposed by Cllr R Smith, seconded by Cllr D Temple and unanimously agreed that the document be titled Infrastructure Funding Statement, in order that it was consistent with the West Oxfordshire District Council named document.

Recommended:

1. That, the report be noted and,
2. That, Officers create an Infrastructure Funding Statement working document for review at a future meeting and ratification at Full Council and,
3. That, the document be reviewed on an annual basis.