A COUNCIL which spent the past year fighting the Government over its housing plans has now said it might work with a neighbouring council next time to make a super-plan for both areas.

South Oxfordshire District Council is looking into the possibility of developing a joint Local Plan with Vale of White Horse District Council which could come into force in ten years' time.

This comes after a battle lasting more than a year in which the SODC Liberal Democrat and Green leaders tried to change the plan.

Local Plans are used to help determine planning applications and set out how and where new housing developments should take place.

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They also set out policies on what kind of housing is appropriate and acceptable and what the local requirements for affordable housing are.

They can also set requirements on the energy-efficiency of new developments.

Councillor Anne-Marie Simpson, cabinet member for planning at South Oxfordshire, said: “We all know how important Local Plans are to our communities.

"I am looking forward to a good democratic debate about the idea of creating a joint one with our colleagues in the Vale.”

The councils said having a joint plan could help them address climate change and achieve their carbon targets, but said it would also provide new challenges that would need to be overcome, including the councils’ separate democratic processes.

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It would also be important to find a way of retaining a ‘local outlook’ for a plan working across a bigger area.

But councillor Debby Hallett, cabinet member with responsibility for planning policy, pointed out that other councils like one at North Devon and Torridge, and another at Plymouth and South-West Devon, have managed to team up with their neighbours.

She said: “Councils in other areas have successfully adopted joint Local Plans and so while we have the opportunity, it is important we give this idea serious consideration.”

The reports will be discussed by the two councils’ scrutiny committees on Monday and Tuesday in South and Vale, and then at their cabinet meetings the following week.