CITY council leader Bob Price has vowed to continue campaigning for thousands of new homes to be built south of Grenoble Road in Oxford.

The council has been lobbying for the new homes for the past 16 years despite being on Green Belt land within South Oxfordshire District Council.

There was a glimmer of hope when the site was listed by SODC as one of six options for a 3,500 strategic site as part of a consultation on where extra new homes should be built by 2032.

But SODC leader John Cotton yesterday revealed he had chosen Chalgrove Airfield as the district council's preferred option, following advice from planning officers.

Reacting to the decision, Mr Price said: "Chalgrove Airfield is just an attempt to avoid considering the Grenoble Road option.

"SODC has been wriggling through the process and is unwilling to look in an objective way at the Grenoble Road site, which is disappointing.

"Chalgrove Airfield is in an unsustainable location with poor infrastructure, including the roads network, whereas Grenoble Road is highly sustainable in terms of the transport network.

"Oxford has an unmet need of about 15,000 homes, according to the Oxfordshire Growth Board, and building homes at Chalgrove Airfield does not address that need for Oxford city."

Mr Price said the council would continue to make the case for homes to be built on the land south of Grenoble Road.

He added it was preparing a planning application in a scheme with Magdalen College and Thames Water, which could be presented to a Local Plan inquiry in about a year's time.

Mr Cotton said: "I don't accept this is a missed opportunity for Oxford. Chalgrove is incredibly close to Oxford. It's not very far from where Grenoble Road is.

"At this point we are not ruling anything out at this stage, it's a consultation, but it's fair to say the likelihood of Grenoble Road going forward is lower than it was last week."

Mr Cotton added the 300-hectare Chalgrove Airfield had the advantage over Grenoble Road because it was not Green Belt land.

He said: "National policy is you need exceptional circumstances to free up Green Belt for housing – there is a presumption in favour of developing so-called brownfield sites.

"Ownership of Chalgrove Airfield recently transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the Homes and Communities Agency and building at former MoD sites like Graven Hill in Bicester have moved forward quickly.

"It's an enormous site and we are considering building on slightly less than half of it."

Oxford City Council wants to build up to 7,500 homes off Grenoble Road.

As well as Grenoble Road and Chalgrove Airfield for the strategic site SODC considered Wick Farm at Elsfield near Oxford, land next to Thornhill park-and-ride, land near Culham Science Centre, and land next to junction seven of the M40 near Thame.

SODC's eight-week consultation on options for the Local Plan 2032 started on Monday.