The Government decision to endorse plans for an urban extension of Oxford was the least surprising of the week. Once the inspector in charge of the inquiry into the draft South East Plan had added the proposal, Ministers were never going to take it out.

In fact, far from taking it out, we can expect a further 4,000 homes on top of Grenoble Road and what was first proposed in the draft South East Plan.

The sums always get complicated when talking about housing but, essentially, the number of homes to be built in Oxfordshire over the next 20 years has gone up by 8,000 from 47,200 to 55,200. Add in the 15,000 homes at Weston Otmoor that could be built if the eco-town gets the go ahead, then we are talking about an extra 23,000 homes on top of what our local planners believe could be sustained, a near 50 per cent increase.

Much of the argument around the original plan was about how Oxfordshire could cope with the extra 47,200 homes proposed. Would the A34, already at capacity, cope with the extra pressure? Can Oxford sustain even more pressure on its medieval road system. And, are there adequate proposals to improve public transport?

Many would argue that the answer was 'no' at 47,200 homes, let alone the 70,000 homes we could end up with.

We are not arguing against new homes. We recognise the pressure on housing in Oxfordshire that sends prices soaring so high that many people cannot afford their own home.

We recognise too that for many there is simply no affordable housing at all that they can aspire to.

The housing growth, however, must be matched by significant improvements to transport infrastructure.

As things stand, doubts hang over proposals to expand capacity on the rail network between Oxford and London; junction improvements aside, there are no significant proposals to improve the A34 or provide alternative routes; and question marks hang over the ability of the Weston Otmoor development to deliver its infrastructure ambitions.

It is symptomatic of the Government's approach to planning. It wants to deliver a big increase in housebuilding for entirely valid reasons, yet is not prepared to recognise the full consequences of its ambition. Even worse, it is prepared to ride roughshod over the planning process to get its way.

Weston Otmoor receives no more than a cursory recognition that it exists. According to the Government, it is outside the South East Plan process.

That is absolute nonsense. The South East Plan not only provides a framework for housing development, it is also about economic development and infrastructure planning. To say that a proposed 15,000 housing development can stand outside this plan is to negate the process itself.