SIR - We all agree that Oxfordshire needs more affordable housing, but it is less easy to agree where the new houses should be built.
People are rightly concerned at loss of green space and a possible poorer quality of life from higher housing densities, but the Government has told us that we must provide 36,500 more houses across the county by 2016.
During the recent debate on the county's new Structure Plan, Liberal Democrats opposed the release of Green Belt land for housing on the edge of Oxford, south of Grenoble Road. They successfully persuaded the county council to protect existing boundaries elsewhere, removing the threat of a new community in the Kidlington/Begbroke/Yarnton area.
Liberal Democrats felt that the new houses should go where they would cause least environmental damage and where they could help provide facilities lacking in some county towns. They felt that the Green Belt should not be breached at all, as it was there for a purpose.
The land south of Grenoble Road also has severe constraints with the sewage works and overhead power lines. Oxford is expected to provide 5,500 new homes by 2016, almost entirely on 'brownfield land'. This makes it vital to preserve green space, which could provide recreation, and woodland for wildlife, on the edge of the city.
People should make their views known when public consultation starts in September.
JEAN FOOKS (Cllr)
Vice-chairman
Environment Scrutiny Committee
Oxfordshire County Council