The only round that asks what the plan should contain closes 11.59pm on 29 September. Three weeks, against the six and eight weeks set for the next two.

The consultation that decides what goes into the next local plan for Henley, Thame and Wallingford closes at 11.59pm on Tuesday 29 September. It opened on 8 September. That is three weeks.

The plan is the Joint Local Plan 2045, or JLP2. South Oxfordshire District Council is writing it with Vale of White Horse District Council, and it will cover the whole of both districts until 2045.

This round is the scoping consultation. No sites are proposed, no policies are drafted and no housing number is on the table. What the councils are asking is what should be in the plan at all.

The questions being asked

The scoping consultation document sets out three questions about the plan’s content:

  • what are your top three priorities for the Joint Local Plan 2045
  • are there any particular topics you would like it to contain
  • do you have any other comments on what it should contain

Five more questions cover how the councils should consult people as the plan is written. One asks whether anything has stopped you taking part in a local plan consultation before, and another asks what would remove that barrier.

Responses go through the online survey at southandvale.gov.uk/JLP2-scoping. They can also be emailed to planning.policy@southandvale.gov.uk, or posted free to “Freepost SOUTH AND VALE CONSULTATIONS”, which needs no stamp and no other address.

Three weeks now, six and eight weeks later

The councils’ own timetable marks the next two consultations as a “minimum 6-week period” and a “minimum 8-week period”. This one carries no such note and runs from Tuesday to Tuesday, three weeks apart.

It is also the only one of the three that asks an open question. The June 2027 round consults on proposed plan content and evidence. The March 2028 round consults on the proposed plan itself, which is the stage at which specific sites appear.

Where you can read it on paper

The full consultation document can be inspected at one address: the council offices at Abbey House, Abbey Close, Abingdon, OX14 3JE.

The formal notice, which is the two-page legal notice rather than the document, can also be seen at three other places:

  • The Beacon, Portway, Wantage
  • Cornerstone Arts Centre, Station Road, Didcot
  • Great Western Park District Community Centre, Gentian Mews, Didcot

Every one of them is at the Abingdon, Wantage and Didcot end of the two districts. None is in Henley, Thame or Wallingford. The councils say libraries across South and Vale have public computers that can be used to read the document and complete the survey, and Oxfordshire County Council lists opening hours.

Joint Local Plan 2045: the published timetable A timeline of the councils' published milestones. Notice of intention published 19 June 2026. Scoping consultation 8 to 29 September 2026, three weeks, the stage now open. Gateway 1 by 31 October 2026, a statutory deadline. Consultation on proposed plan content and evidence 1 June to 13 July 2027, a minimum six weeks. Consultation on the proposed plan, including sites, 7 March to 18 April 2028, a minimum eight weeks. Submission for examination 31 October 2028. Adoption 30 April 2029. Joint Local Plan 2045: every published milestone Only two of these stages ask the public anything after this month. Sites do not appear until March 2028. 19 June 2026 8 to 29 September 2026 By 31 October 2026 1 June to 13 July 2027 7 March to 18 April 2028 31 October 2028 30 April 2029 Notice of intention published Scoping consultation: open now, three weeks Gateway 1, a statutory deadline Plan content and evidence, minimum six weeks The proposed plan, with sites, minimum eight weeks Submitted for examination Adoption Source: South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils, Joint Local Plan 2045 timetable, in effect from 19 June 2026. Graphic by The Henley Post
The published timetable runs to April 2029. Everything after Gateway 1 sits inside the government's 30-month clock.

Why there are two plans at once

South Oxfordshire is already several years into a different local plan. The Joint Local Plan 2041 was submitted for examination on 9 December 2024 and is still with the inspectors. Hearings ran in June 2025 and July 2026, and a further session was held on 9 September 2026 at Bee House, Milton.

The scoping document says the councils now expect to adopt that first plan in May 2027. On the published timetable, the second plan is due to be adopted on 30 April 2029, less than two years later.

The councils call this twin-tracking, and they say they have no choice. New planning regulations came into force in March 2026 and set a 30-month clock for preparing, examining and adopting a plan. That clock starts at a stage called Gateway 1, and the councils must pass it by 31 October 2026. Their scoping document says they expect to start the statutory process on Friday 30 October, the day before the deadline. They also say nearly 40 other councils are in the same position.

And the council writing it may not exist by 2029

On 16 July the government said it was minded to replace Oxfordshire’s councils, and West Berkshire, with three unitary authorities. Henley was placed in a new southern council. On 7 September that decision was paused for a review.

The scoping document does not pretend this is settled. It says the decision and timetable are “uncertain at the time of publication”, that the councils must begin the plan now “with responsibility for its later stages potentially transferring to new authorities”, and that once adopted the policies “will apply in the areas that fall within the current South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district boundaries”.

So the plan survives the boundaries even if the council does not.

What it means for you

  • The deadline is 11.59pm on Tuesday 29 September. Late responses are not counted.
  • This is the round for arguments about what the plan should cover, not about individual fields. Transport, flooding, the Chilterns, second homes, affordable housing, town centres and infrastructure all belong here. Objections to a named site do not, because no sites have been published.
  • If you want to be told when the next stages happen, say so in your response. The regulations let you ask to be notified at nine separate points, including when the plan is submitted and when the examiner reports.
  • Sites arrive in March 2028. That is the consultation to watch if your concern is a specific piece of land.
  • The current plan still decides applications in the meantime, and South Oxfordshire cannot currently show five years of housing land. Our Henley planning page sets out what that means when an application comes in.
  • If you need the document in large print, Braille, audio, Easy Read or another language, the councils ask you to call 01235 422 422.

Sources