Green Belt set to be redrawn

A review of the city's Green Belt will be one of the key recommendations of planning inspectors examining housing numbers across the South East.

The report is expected to pinpoint specific pockets of land that inspectors believe could be removed from Oxford's 50-year old Green Belt, without causing substantial environmental damage to the city's setting.

Land off Grenoble Road, where Magdalen College wants to build 3,500 homes, is to be the most significant section of the Green Belt to be reviewed.

Magdalen and Thames Water, owners of the site near the Kassam Stadium, made a strong submission to the public inquiry arguing a settlement on the edge of the city could help address the city's chronic shortage of affordable housing.

The review could be jointly carried out by Oxford City Council, which owns adjoining land and backs the expansion of the city, and South Oxfordshire District Council, which opposes the proposal.

Shipton Quarry, where developers want to build 5,000 homes, is another key site that the inspectors want to be examined. The site, north of Kidlington, was formerly a cement works.

The recommendations are also expected to boost Oxford University's hopes of building thousands of new homes on a 368-acre greenfield site between Kidlington and Yarnton, next to the main Woodstock to Oxford Road. Independent planning inspectors spent four months examining housing numbers proposed by the South East England Regional Assembly (Seera).

The future of Oxfordshire's Green Belt figured prominently at hearings held between November on March.

The inspectors' recommendations, set to be published next week, are expected to win the immediate backing of Gordon Brown's Government.

Inspectors appeared to have rejected the idea of any wholesale review of Oxford's Green Belt on the grounds that it would result in years of debate, involving six councils.

Identifying specific sites that should be looked at, will chime with the Government's wish to make the building of affordable homes in the region a priority, while sticking to Gordon Brown's pledge to retain Green Belt land.

As expected, the inspectors say more homes should be built than proposed in the draft South East Plan, the region's housing blueprint until 2026.

A 20 per cent increase is recommended in Oxfordshire, compared with ten per cent across the region.

It would mean 9,440 extra homes built in the county, on top of the already proposed 47,200, sources say.

Oxford City Council leader John Goddard welcomed the prospect of a review of the Green Belt.

He said: "This makes a lot of sense. It is belated but welcome. Proposals to have more housing around the edge of Oxford city is not a proposal to concrete over the Green Belt - it's an option to use up to one per cent, which is no big deal.

"This is a start of recognising the desperate need for housing for the people of Oxford."

But Andy Boddington, pictured, Oxfordshire campaign manager for the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said a review was unnecessary.

He said: "If the city council thinks it is imperative to build south of Grenoble Road, it should apply for planning permission under existing procedures, and let the case stand and fall on its merits.

"Oxfordshire needs more housing, especially affordable housing, but it doesn't need a sprawling conurbation from Begbroke north of Oxford to Abingdon to the south.

"The worst thing about this type of planning is that it is not being conducted by local people and businesses setting out a vision for the city and county, but bureaucrats who see planning only as numbers.

"It is likely that the extra 20 per cent for Oxfordshire is only the beginning. It seems that the green fields of Oxfordshire have become a soft target for a government.

Dr Ian Scargill, chairman of Oxford Green Belt Network group, said: "Any suggestion of a review even in limited locations will open up a real Pandora's Box. It would lead to a whole lot of speculative attempts coming forward from developers and land owners hoping to make a fortune."

The leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Keith Mitchell, said: "Our policy is to oppose development on the Green Belt. We need to bear in mind the growing debate about building on the flood plain. But lets see what the report says."

Oxfordshire County Council favours expanding Didcot, Bicester, Grove and Banbury.

David Buckle, chief executive of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: "We will maintain our opposition to the development in the Green Belt, regardless of what the report says. I cannot see any prospect of that changing.

"We believe that the statutory responsibility for any review of the Green Belt at Grenoble Road would be ours, although of course we would want to involve the city council."