Three areas around Witney are down for 700 homes each. Comments close on 9 October, and the Corn Exchange drop-in is on Tuesday 1 September.

The last public say on where Witney grows is open now, and it closes on Friday 9 October. West Oxfordshire District Council published the draft version of its Local Plan 2043 on Wednesday 26 August. After 9 October the plan goes to a government planning inspector, and the council cannot reopen it.

Three broad areas on the edge of Witney are named in the draft. Each is down for about 700 homes.

  • Land south of Witney (Policy WIT5). About 108 hectares of farmland, promoted by David Wilson Homes. The plan calls it a new village rather than an extension of the town.
  • Land west of Witney (Policy WIT6). About 84 hectares, promoted by David Lock and Hallam. A sustainable urban extension, and the plan says the shape of it depends on whether the Witney Lakes Resort stays where it is.
  • Land north of Burford Road (Policy WIT7). About 84 hectares in the parishes of Curbridge and Witney, promoted by Mactaggart and Mickel, Savills and Gladman.

All three figures come from the site templates in the draft plan itself. They are not permissions. They are broad locations the council says are suitable “in principle”, each of which would need a community masterplan and then a planning application before anything is built.

The plan does not expect them soon. Paragraph 8.2.86 says the strategic locations are “expected to come forward from Year 6 of the plan period onwards”, which is 2030/31, and paragraph 8.2.114 says they are “not expected to make a significant contribution to housing delivery during the initial five years”.

Where the district’s 8,350 strategic homes go

Witney’s three sites are part of eight Strategic Locations for Growth across West Oxfordshire. Carterton, about six miles west of Witney, carries the largest share.

Strategic Locations for Growth, assumed dwellings to 31 March 2043
LocationPolicyHomes
Land north east of CartertonCA72,000
Land east of Brize NortonCA82,000
Land west of CartertonCA5800
Land north of London Road, Chipping NortonCN3750
Land north of CartertonCA6700
Land south of WitneyWIT5700
Land west of WitneyWIT6700
Land north of Burford Road, WitneyWIT7700
Total8,350

Bar chart of the eight Strategic Locations for Growth in the West Oxfordshire draft Local Plan 2043: north east of Carterton 2,000 homes, east of Brize Norton 2,000, west of Carterton 800, north of Chipping Norton 750, north of Carterton 700, south of Witney 700, west of Witney 700, north of Burford Road Witney 700

The district-wide numbers

The draft plan sets a housing requirement of 18,318 homes between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2043. That splits into two parts:

  • 16,290 homes, or 905 a year, to meet West Oxfordshire’s own assessed need under the government’s standard method.
  • 2,028 homes to take about 18 per cent of Oxford City’s unmet need.

The requirement is applied on a stepped basis, so the annual target changes three times over the plan period:

Stepped annual housing requirement, Policy CP2
PeriodHomes a year
2025/26 to 2030/31650
2031/32 to 2036/371,600
2037/38 to 2042/43802

Against that, the council counts a supply of 19,294 homes, a buffer of just over 5 per cent. Most of it is already committed rather than new: 2,665 large commitments and 307 small ones at 1 April 2026, 4,375 homes still carried over from the Local Plan 2031, 582 completions in 2025/26, the 8,350 strategic homes, 915 in smaller new allocations and a windfall allowance of 2,100.

The council’s own warning about sewers

The leader of the council has already said the homes may not arrive on time, and the reason is not planning.

In an open letter dated 27 July, Cllr Andy Graham wrote that “the capacity of the wastewater network and sewage treatment works presents a significant challenge to the delivery of new homes” across West Oxfordshire. He added that the council “has no statutory power to require a water company to invest, nor can we direct the timing of improvements”, and that allocated sites may therefore face delays outside the council’s control.

The draft plan says the same thing in its evidence. Paragraph 7.83 calls the sewage treatment works “the most important infrastructural asset with respect to future development in the district” and records “challenges at many of the STWs and uncertainty regarding the headroom available to accommodate future growth”. Paragraph 7.84 adds that most watercourses in the district have declining or poor ecological status.

What Witney is promised in return

The plan lists the strategic infrastructure it expects the Witney area to need, at paragraph 8.2.110. It includes:

  • a new leisure centre with indoor and outdoor sports facilities for the wider Witney area
  • additional sports pitches
  • a mobility hub and Mass Rapid Transit infrastructure along the A40 corridor
  • upgrades to the sewerage and water supply network, including new pumping stations
  • flood mitigation and sustainable drainage
  • more health capacity
  • town centre and public realm improvements
  • new highway infrastructure to address congestion in the town

Separately, Policy WIT4 marks Welch Way in the town centre as an Area of Redevelopment Opportunity, and Policy WIT2 covers the town centre itself.

How to comment, and what actually counts

This stage is different from the four earlier rounds. Regulation 19 is not a general consultation on whether you like the plan. The council’s own wording is that it “focuses on the full draft Plan and whether it is legally compliant and ‘sound’”, meaning whether it has been positively prepared, is justified by evidence, is effective and is consistent with national policy.

Every comment is passed to the Planning Inspectorate with the plan, so a representation that explains which policy is unsound and why carries further than one that objects in general terms.

Comments go through the council’s consultation platform. Hard copies are at the council offices and at deposit points including local libraries.

Three drop-in events are running, where planning officers will answer questions:

  • Tuesday 1 September, 4pm to 7pm: Corn Exchange, Witney
  • Wednesday 9 September, 4.30pm to 7.30pm: Town Hall, Carterton
  • Thursday 10 September, 4pm to 7pm: Town Hall, Chipping Norton, about 12 miles north of Witney

What it means for you

If you live near any of the three Witney sites, this is the last stage at which the principle of building there can be challenged. Once the plan is submitted, the argument moves to an inspector’s examination, and the questions narrow to soundness and legal compliance.

If you live anywhere else in the town, the practical effect is slower. Nothing on these sites is expected to be built for several years, but the plan is what future planning applications will be judged against, including the Welch Way redevelopment and the town centre policies.

The deadline is Friday 9 October 2026. There is no extension built into the process.

We track new applications for the town on our Witney planning news page, and the current closures on the Witney roadworks and travel page. Our Witney house prices page carries the latest Land Registry figures for the district.

Sources