Vale of White Horse

The Vale of White Horse (the Vale) covers an area of 580 square kilometres and extends from the edge of Oxford in the north east almost to the edge of Swindon in the south west. Just over half of the Vale's 117,000 residents live in the five main settlements of Abingdon, Botley, Faringdon, Grove and Wantage. The rest of the population lives in over 70 villages and hamlets, many of which are of considerable conservation importance.

The Vale is far more than its rural character might suggest: the two power stations at Didcot and the reservoir at Farmoor make major contributions to the power and water supply of the wider region. The UK Defence Academy at Watchfield, the Saïd Business School's Executive Education Centre at Egrove Park, and Oxford Brookes University's Westminster Campus all provide higher education facilities. There are extensive employment areas including Milton Park and the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus - one of the largest research centres in Europe. Together these two sites employ about 11,000 people.

District community strategy vision

The Vale Partnership's vision for the future of the Vale is to have:

A sustainable Vale;

• With prosperous, inclusive and thriving communities that have good access to a range of housing, jobs and services;
• Where everyone can feel safe and enjoy life, and
• Where our needs can be met without compromising the natural and built heritage or the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Priorities

There are 20 priorities included within the draft Vale Community Strategy and these include (for further information please see the delivery plan):

• Maintaining and enhancing the health and vitality of the Vale's market town centres
• Improving quality of life for older people
• Living with extreme weather conditions

Further information

Find out more at www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/community_support_and_advice/community_strategy/.

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