A BLUEPRINT for where development can take place in Cherwell over the next 15 years is in the final stages.

Cherwell District Council’s Local Plan submission makes provisions for building 22,800 homes by 2031, to hit government targets.

The document is also seen as a test case by other councils in Oxfordshire, as it is the first to be put forward since the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) was published in March 2014.

The SHMA – commissioned jointly by all of Oxfordshire’s biggest councils – said there was a need for 100,000 more homes in the county by 2031.

But its findings have been attacked by countryside campaigners, who dispute the number of homes it says are needed.

Cherwell District Council’s latest Local Plan proposals include 6,050 more homes than originally proposed last June.

This is because planning inspector Nigel Payne halted the first examination and said the council needed to take into account the SHMA figures.

District council spokesman Tony Ecclestone said yesterday that since a second two-week examination was held in December, the council had received Mr Payne’s response and was fact-checking the document.

He added: “We have 10 days to do this.

“This is not a public report and is not a public process under the rules which govern these things. At the end of this period, we will send the report back to [the Planning Inspectorate], which will consider our [changes] and issue us with the final report.

“It is up to us to decide when to publish and we intend to as soon as possible.”