On Thursday 16 July, it was announced by UK Government that our two-tier governance system in Oxfordshire will be restructured into three unitary authorities.
The ‘three-councils’ proposal was made by Oxford City Council, one of various proposals submitted to the Government for consideration. You can read more about the proposals in this previous new story.
From 1st April 2028, we will no longer have Oxfordshire County Council and the District Councils, rather there will be three unitary councils serving Oxfordshire. These will be:
Greater Oxford, encompassing Oxford city plus some of the satellite towns and villages including Yarnton and Begbroke, Wheatley, Botley and Culham.
Ridgeway, encompassing the districts of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse with West Berkshire. This will include Abingdon, Didcot, Henley, Wantage, Newbury and Hungerford.
North Oxfordshire, encompassing the districts of Cherwell and West Oxfordshire, including Banbury, Bicester, Witney, Chipping Norton and Carterton. This is where Eynsham will be.
These new councils will come into effect in April 2028, with elections to be held in May 2027 to allow plenty of time for the ‘handover’ process and shadow council to be established. From April 2028, the County Council and District Councils will no longer exist.
Town and Parish Councils remain unchanged under this new structure. We will continue to operate as we always have, with North Oxfordshire Council becoming our superior tier of governance, instead of West Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council. We continue to work closely with the existing and future councils, and welcome any new opportunties to achieve the best results for our community.
Read more about the plans – and a map identifying the areas covered – for three unitary councils on this website: 3Councils