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What's The Problem?
Why is the Oxford Green Belt so important?
The Green Belt is there to make sure that little or no development takes place on the land within it. This serves 4 different purposes:
- to stop all the City and the surrounding villages merging into one
- to keep the special character and landscape setting of Oxford
- to help protect the countryside
- to encourage the recycling of derelict and other urban land.
Why is it in danger?
The South East England Regional Assembly is preparing a new plan for the south east of England including Oxfordshire (the South East Plan). Amongst other things, the South East plan sets out the amount and general location of new housing up to 2026.
The Assembly published a draft of their plan, which proposes building new housing developments around Didcot, Bicester, Wantage and Grove and within the built-up area of Oxford.
This draft of the plan has now been considered by an independent panel who have recommended that the area of Green Belt to the south of Oxford be reviewed to provide for an extension to Oxford of 4,000 houses to 2026 and to allow for further growth up to 2031. It also said that some more employment land could be provided if this didnt worsen the housing/jobs imbalance in the City.
In July, Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State, announced she was supporting the proposal for this urban extension to Oxford. Although the precise location is yet to be determined, all of the land under review falls in South Oxfordshire and within the Oxford Green Belt. We remain opposed to the proposals, and will be meeting in the near future with others who oppose this development to discuss how best to respond to the Secretary of State.
Reasons why the Green Belt is being considered for development
From the point of view that additional growth is needed to meet the needs of Oxford city, the panel decided the area should accommodate a significantly higher housing level. They consider the housing need and support for the economy justifies a review of the Green Belt boundary, with the southern edge of the city as their preferred location.
Impacts of building on Green Belt Land
Building on the Green Belt is a bad idea because:
- The green belt continues to do the jobs for which it was designed
- New housing would cause increased traffic and therefore increased congestion, in an area that already suffers from problems on both the ring road and approaches to Oxford.
- If there were to be growth in employment as well then this will add to housing pressures and pressures for affordable housing
- No one yet knows whether the City can actually accommodate any more housing, and no one has considered the alternatives properly yet.
- The green belt makes our county attractive and appealing – its erosion could easily impact on the tourist industry, and will make the area less appealing for high quality staff to live in.
- Development south of Oxford would be poorly related to the existing built-up area of the city being physically separated by a main road and a large employment area and commercial leisure uses.