West Oxfordshire District Council is continuing to take strong, proactive steps to tackle long-standing pressures on the district’s sewage network, using planning powers to make sure that any new homes built have the right infrastructure upgrades secured before they are occupied. 

On 18 December 2025, the government wrote to councils with elections scheduled for May 2026 to offer the option to request a postponement to those elections. Councils were invited to write to government by 15 January 2026 if they wished to postpone their election and set out their views on the postponement of local elections if they considered it could release essential capacity to deliver local government reorganisation.

West Oxfordshire District Council is progressing plans to deliver up to 70 new, fully affordable homes in the heart of Witney, as part of wider efforts to deliver local homes for local people.

West Oxfordshire District Council has published its Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) for 2024/25, showing steady progress in delivering much-needed affordable housing including social housing, securing infrastructure funding, and advancing planning policies that will support sustainable growth across the district. The report also outlines how the Council is responding to changes in national housing policy and preparing a new Local Plan to ensure future development continues to be properly managed and community focused.

A new Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) has been approved to prevent illegal pony and trap racing along a stretch of the A40 between Witney and Burford, following serious safety concerns raised by residents and Thames Valley Police (TVP).