South Oxfordshire residents support Green Party strategies in new plan

South Oxfordshire District Council, which is controlled by a Liberal Democrat/Green Party partnership, has just adopted its next four-year Corporate Plan, at last week’s Full Council online meeting.  The Plan includes six strategic themes which will drive the Council’s agenda and set priorities for the delivery of action plans across the District.

The development of the Plan has been steered by Councillor Andrea Powell, Green Party Cabinet Member for the Corporate Services and Communication, with particularly strong input from the group of Green Party councillors.  During a four-week consultation period, over 930 responses were received from individuals and organisations, a record number for this type of consultation at SODC.  Analysis of the responses show strong support for the Green agenda; themes relating to the protection and restoration of the natural world and to addressing the climate emergency both received very high rankings, with many hundreds of individual supportive comments.

The feedback from the consultation has informed the final version of the Corporate Plan.  Annual progress reports will ensure that the administration is held to account and is transparent in how residents’ priorities are being delivered.

Andrea Powell commented, “Anyone who watched David Attenborough’s latest devastating programme, Extinction, will be acutely aware of the need for all authorities to take action to prevent the further loss of habitat and biodiversity in our local areas. Along with the Climate Emergency, this destruction of our natural world is something we must take seriously, and we are determined to play our part in giving this top priority over the next few years.”

Robin Bennett, Deputy Leader of SODC and Green Group Leader said, “Following the electoral mandate we received in the local elections in May 2019, it was incredibly encouraging to receive further endorsement of Green Party policies and priorities during this consultation process.  We are committed to delivering on our manifesto promises, and the Corporate Plan creates the framework we need to get things done.”