'We must build on fields'

THE issue of where new homes should be built in Oxfordshire is to be put to the people - but they will be told at least 8,000 must go on green-field sites.

After months of dispute about extending Oxford into the Green Belt, residents and interest groups are to have their say in a major planning consultation. They will be asked to help determine where 21,000 homes should be built in the county.

But the questionnaire will make clear that between 8,000 and 10,000 homes will have to go on previously undeveloped sites. The consultation will provide an important opportunity for Oxford colleges, landowners and developers to make their bids, now the assumption is being made that some green-field sites must be sacrificed to help meet the county's chronic housing shortages.

The six-week consultation will be launched next month by Oxfordshire County Council. It follows the South East England Regional Assembly decision that Oxfordshire should absorb 2,360 new homes a year over 20 years.

The county council will put forward two favoured options. The council's cabinet is likely to urge that the bulk of the homes should be built around Didcot, Bicester and Grove. But suggestions for other sites will also be invited with the proviso that almost half the homes will have to be built on green sites.

While all suggestions will be considered, many will regard the exercise as a being effectively a referendum on the key issue of whether Oxford should extend into Green Belt land.

Keith Mitchell, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: "I cannot see people wanting a new town. I cannot see much support for that. I think it will probably come down to the two big alternatives: the continued growth of Bicester and Didcot or the idea of expanding the city onto the Green Belt."

Mr Mitchell, who is also chairman of Seera, added: "People sometimes feel disconnected to the planning process. So I do think it is important that people respond to this. But we need to make clear to people that the numbers must add up. The maths have to be right. About 8,000 homes will have to be built on green-field sites somewhere, on land previously undeveloped."

The news will provide a major boost to Magdalen College and Thames Water, who want to build a settlement of 3,500 homes stretching from Sandford-on-Thames to Greater Leys. Brasenose College, as another major landowner, is also expected to renew its efforts to have the Green Belt boundary south of Oxford redrawn, including an area bounded by Northfield Brook.

Brasenose bursar Dr John Knowland said: "A lot of people complain that one of the consequences of the Green Belt policy has been to push commuters further and further out. With the current state of public transport and roads, this is not much fun for them. One sees an opportunity for providing housing in a more convenient area. We are not as pro-active as Magdalen. But that does not mean in the event of something promoting a change, we won't come forward."

Elizabeth Gillespie, of Baldon Parish Council, said "I fear that colleges like Magdalen and Brasnose are just waiting and sharpening their pencils. What I find so lamentable and sad is that in the past the colleges had maternal stance towards their city and its surroundings."

Ian Scargill, of the Green Belt Network group, said: "We have supported the county council's long-standing policy to divert growth from Oxford to the country towns like Didcot, Bicester and Witney. If there were to be green field development we would favour it taking place in these places."

The consultation should measure levels of support for a growing list of proposals and opposition to developments including: