Local Plan 2040: An economy that works for everyone
Oxford has one of the best performing economies and has one of the highest concentrations of knowledge-intensive businesses – e.g. scientific research and high-tech industry – in the UK.
The city’s economy is likely to continue to grow. The University of Oxford has created 205 spinout companies since 2011 – more than any other UK university – and large institutions, including Oxford’s universities, BMW and the Ellison Institute, are proposing billions of pounds of investment in Oxford over the coming years.
To protect housing sites, the City Council’s existing Local Plan 2036 prioritises housing over economic developments. No new land was allocated for employment sites and, instead, developers were required to intensify existing employment sites.
The City Council’s new Local Plan 2040 aims to build on this by ensuring Oxford’s successful economy works for all residents. New policies include:
- encouraging the intensification of existing economic development sites near sustainable transport hubs
- requiring large housing developments (50+ homes) to create a Community Employment Plan, setting out how the development will hire local residents, pay fair wages and offer opportunities for local young people
- requiring commercial development proposals to include a strategy for delivering affordable workspaces for small local start-ups as part of their masterplans
