GOLFERS want Oxford City Council to postpone the adoption of an important planning document for more consideration during the pandemic.

North Oxford Golf Club is set to be built on due to Cherwell District Council's Local Plan.

A group of golfers who use the course has previously appealed to the north Oxfordshire district council to reconsider, and is now making a similar appeal to Oxford City Council.

In a letter to council leader Susan Brown, the GreenWay group asked her to take the Local Plan off the agenda at the city council meeting on June 8 for further consideration before it is accepted.

In a reply Ms Brown said the pandemic had highlighted the precarious situation many lived in, and said plans for better housing in the Local Plan would help solve this.

Oxford Mail:

Susan Brown

The GreenWay letter asked the council to consider taking two actions.

The first was a pause to examine whether affordable housing was going to be built on the site of North Oxford Golf Club as the group had fears it might be used for market-rate housing instead.

The second was pausing its own local plan.

The letter said: "The Covid 19 pandemic has led to a rethinking of ideas about environment, climate and the health of the population.

"There are many imaginative and innovative ideas about how the Green Belt land around a city can more directly serve the needs of the community. Could you give some time for local groups to make representations about these new ways forward?"

In her reply Ms Brown said the future of North Oxford Golf Course was a decision to be made by Cherwell District Council.

She added that though there was interest from large developers, including Oxford University, in the site, what would be built there was Cherwell's decision alone.

Ms Brown's letter also said the pandemic had revealed how many people in Oxford lived in precarious situations, and that there was a need to address housing through the Local Plan as soon as possible.

She added: "Delaying the adoption of Oxford’s Local Plan would create a prolonged period of uncertainty and confusion, leave the City Council... open to speculative developers and ‘planning by appeal’"