CAMPAIGNERS battling to save Oxford’s Green Belt are bracing themselves for a double blow.

The Oxford Times understands that the Government is preparing to allow the building of thousands of homes south of Grenoble Road, as a new extension to Oxford.

The announcement is expected to be made over the next few weeks, with the Government also likely to increase the number of homes earmarked for Oxfordshire in the South East Plan.

Keith Mitchell, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, told The Oxford Times yesterday: “I think we are likely to get an instruction from Government to build at Grenoble Road. If that is the case we have to move forward and make sure we end up with a balanced sustainable community and not a huge quantity of one type of housing.”

And news that South Oxfordshire District Council is to press for a Green Belt review to allow hundreds of homes to be built at Berinsfield and Wheatley came as a further shock for Green Belt supporters.

South Oxfordshire has stood firmly against any redrawing of the Green Belt around Oxford to allow 4,000 homes to be built on land near the Kassam Stadium, owned by Magdalen College and Thames Water.

The council now faces accusations of double standards after signalling its willingness to see the Green Belt breached to allow extensions of both Berinsfield and Wheatley.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England, which has just launched a ‘Hands Off Oxford’s Green Belt’, campaign says it is “appalled” by the “damaging U-turn” by South Oxfordshire, which has stood firm against moves to expand Oxford from Sandford-on-Thames to Garsington.

But South Oxfordshire insists that a selective Green Belt review is justified by “exceptional circumstances”, with the Green Belt now inhibiting the regeneration of Berinsfield and there being a “strong case” for linking the Wheatley Bridge area to Wheatley.

Dr Helena Whall, campaign manager for the Oxfordshire branch of the CPRE, said: “We have learned that SODC, which professes to be opposed to the urban extension of Oxford into the Green Belt, is nevertheless itself proposing two breaches of the Green Belt at Berinsfield and Wheatley. It is guilty of double standards.

“It goes without saying that these proposals represent serious, further threats to the integrity and future of the Green Belt, the permanence of which is so important to us all.

“The Wheatley threat, in particular, taken with the urban extension of Oxford, risks development sprawling out over the whole Green Belt arc to the south and east of Oxford, and requiring a new outer ring road, which would connect to junction 8a of the M40, with severe traffic consequences for this presently rural area.”

It is understood that South Oxfordshire’s plans would involve building up to 150 homes at both Wheatley and Berinsfield. The proposal is set out in the council’s core strategy document, earmarking land for development over the next 20 years.

It says: “Berinsfield lies within the Oxford Green Belt and whilst Wheatley is not covered by the Green Belt, the boundary wraps tightly around the built-up area.

“Any expansion of these villages would require a localised review of the Green Belt boundary. Local reviews differ from the strategic review south of Oxford in that they are small-scale and address local needs and priorities. The emerging South East Plan enables local reviews to take place without compromising the wider strategy.”

Oxford City Council views the homes off Grenoble Road as key to combating the city’s housing shortages. But the site lies within South Oxfordshire boundaries — and the district council has described the city council’s plans as a ‘land grab’.

Ed Turner, the city council executive member for housing, said: “It is interesting that South Oxfordshire recognises the need to review its Green Belt in order to meet the enormous challenges in providing sufficient houses for local families.

“I hope their open mindedness about the Green Belt in Berinsfield will transfer to open mindedness about working in partnership with the city to bring forward development south of Grenoble Road.”