Road tolls and a free tram service were among the proposals as a developer today revealed its draft masterplan for the proposed eco-town near Weston-on-the-Green.

After months of speculation and protest about the environmental impact of the 15,000-home settlement, the company behind the scheme has unveiled its masterplan for Weston Otmoor.

Parkridge, the developer, reveals there would be a single point of access into and out of the eco-town - and residents would be charged for leaving by car. The cost of this 'eco-town toll' would vary - rising at times when surrounding roads were congested.

Residents of Weston Otmoor are promised a free tram service around the 800-acre site, with every home within 300m of a tram stop. One proposal is to install real-time screens in every home and office, which would display the times of both the next tram and the current car toll charge.

A new rail station, servicing Oxford, Milton Keynes and London, would be built on the south side of the site, with ten trains per hour to Oxford and six to Bicester. A 6,000 space park-and-ride would be built next to it.

The developer says the eco-town would require the current A34/M40 junction to be entirely rebuilt.

The masterplan proposes that between 30 and 50 per cent of the 15,000 homes would be affordable.

Weston Otmoor would have a population of about 35,000, with 12,000 people working in the eco-town.

The scale of the project is reflected in the fact that the masterplan includes eight primary schools and two secondary schools.

A report on the masterplan by a Government-appointed panel of experts was published this week.

It calls on the developer to assess the implications for Bicester and the risk of Weston Otmoor becoming a commuter town. The panel also calls on the developer to address concerns about the tram system being downgraded to buses and to provide details on how road charging would be enforced.

The publication of the masterplan was quickly followed by the resignation of local councillor Neil Godwin, on whose farmland part of the eco-town would be built.

Mr Godwin has faced calls to stand down as the village representative on Cherwell District Council because of a conflict of interest.

It is understood Parkridge has an option to buy about 200 acres of his farmland on the south-western section of the site.

The new eco-town would be dominated by a high street running through its centre with shops, schools and leisure facilities.

A section of it would be built over the A34, as previously revealed in The Oxford Times.

In the face of bitter criticism from the wildlife trust BBOWT about the threat to the Woodsides Meadow Nature Reserve, the developer says that green spaces would make up about a fifth of the eco-town. A new marsh habitat is promised on the edge of the site.

People now have until Monday to respond to the Government consultation, and until early August to respond to the developers' consultatkion. The Government is expected to produce a list of up to ten preferred eco-town sites in October.