Henley Town Council would like to announce that a clear majority of residents voting in the referendum on the revised Joint Henley and Harpsden Neighbourhood Plan on 24 November 2022 voted ‘yes’ in response to the question:

‘Do you want South Oxfordshire District Council to use the Neighbourhood Plan for Joint Henley and Harpsden to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area?’

In total, 1207 residents voted in favour of the plan and 266 voted against.

The next step is for South Oxfordshire District Council to adopt the revised plan at their Council meeting on 8 December 2022. Following this, the Plan becomes part of the Development Plan used by South Oxfordshire District Council when deciding planning applications.

This means that Henley and Harpsden have more defence against speculative planning applications, that newly allocated green spaces around Henley and Harpsden have additional protection and that developers will have clearer guidelines on the expectations surrounding air quality, sustainable building methods and transport considerations.

Cath Adams, Deputy Clerk, would like to thank all residents and councillor members of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee for their hard work, hours of research and attendance at meetings over the last four and a half years.

“The plan is the culmination of four and a half years of research and background work carried out both by members of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee and consultants provided by the government as part of their neighbourhood planning support programme. The height of the Covid pandemic made public engagement more difficult, but residents were kept informed by online presentations by site promoters, an exhibition of sites and draft policies held in Henley Town Hall and a drop in session to review the policies before the plan was submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council. The Council is grateful to local media for giving the Neighbourhood Plan excellent coverage throughout the process.”

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