A statement from Cllr David Rouane, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council
Published 12 December 2024
Looking back to council work over the last year, I’m struck once again at how much we have achieved.
You will have heard much from the new government about the need for local councils to provide more housing. With this in mind, we accelerated the production of our local plan to provide the housing and infrastructure that our communities need, and we submitted this on Monday 9 December.
Perhaps my highlight of 2024 has been becoming social landlords for the first time in over 20 years! This is a big step to help fulfil one part of our plan to provide truly affordable housing.
We have been particularly hard hit with extreme bad weather – and I imagine with the challenges of climate change the coming years will bring more of the same. We have provided emergency grants to help residents and businesses and our officers are working with other agencies to help prepare for future events.
With this in mind, we’ve continued to build on our work to tackle climate change and promote nature recovery. We helped create the first habitat bank in the district and we have also been successful in getting government funding of nearly £1.5 million towards decarbonising our buildings. And once again with your help, we remain the top district for recycling in the country. This is something we should all be proud of – but there is still much more we can do to cut down on the amount of ‘stuff’ we buy and throw away.
I would again like to thank everyone involved in supporting our communities. Working closely with community organisations and partners, our Community Hub has helped residents throughout the year with cost-of-living concerns.
As the year draws to a close, don’t forget if you need help or want to find out the details of our services over the Christmas period, including emergency support information, head to our Christmas Information webpage. And if you haven’t already booked, our fantastic Cornerstone Arts Centre is offering a magical pantomime this year to get everyone in the festive spirit. You can find out more and grab your tickets at www.cornerstone-arts.org
I’m looking forward to what 2025 will bring us. We will be publishing our new Council Plan in spring 2025 – which will guide what we do for the next four years.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Cllr David Rouane, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council
