Local authorities in Oxfordshire accused of 'raiding the green belt'

This week, Cherwell District Council launched a consultation asking the public for views on plans to build 1,790 new homes on open countryside between Oxford and Kidlington.

The homes will be built over a spread of three sites, including the land ‘west of Oxford Road’, the land ‘east of Oxford Road’ and the land ‘south-east of Kidlington’.

It comes as permission for a further 134 homes to be built off Banbury Road in North Oxford, near to the Cherwell development, raised concerns about whether water networks will be able to cope.

This means over 1,900 homes will be built on previously untouched land, near the boundary between Oxford City Council and Cherwell District Council.

David Young, who is a member of POETS (Planning Oxfordshire’s Environment and Transport Sustainably), said the level of growth on the green belt in and around Oxford was ‘worrying’

He said: “The POETS are concerned about the building on the green belt because while the government says the protection of green belt land is a priority for them, some key authorities see the green belt as a resource to be raided – and that’s not a good idea.

“Green belt land is the most popular planning control of all time – it is one that people understand and value.

“POETs would say the purpose is to keep the land open, but increasingly, particularly post Covid, there’s a need to use the green belt for active recreational purposes, such as walking, and other types of rural uses.”

The POETs said they are becoming increasingly ‘worried about the levels of growth in Oxford’ and the more the city continues to grow ‘almost certainly there will be threats for the green belt’.

The land between Oxford and Kidlington was allocated for development as part of Cherwell District Council’s local plan, which was adopted in September 2020.

Despite the land being earmarked for development two years ago, the council has said it is still keen to receive comments on the approaches to the new site.

Harbord Road Residents Association, located near Cutteslowe Park and the new development site, has raised concerns.

Suzanne McIvor, who is the secretary of the resident’s group, said: “This is just the start of development in this area and it is all on Green Belt land.

“Around 700 further dwellings will be built between this St Frideswide development and the Oxford Parkway Station on land owned by Christ Church College.

“And 670 dwellings will be built on the beautiful North Oxford Golf Course which is owned by Oxford University, Christ Church and Exeter Colleges.

“There are also significant housing developments on Stratfield Farm and near Sainsbury’s in Kidlington – the Kidlington Gap which separates Oxford from Kidlington will almost disappear.”

Mrs McIvor also highlighted concerns about plans to build a new stadium for Oxford United – the football team has asked to lease the hectares of Stratfield Brake for 250 years, with a view to building an 18,000-capacity stadium, sports and community grounds and hotel, retail, and conference facilities.

Councillor Colin Clarke, Lead Member for Planning at Cherwell District Council, said regarding the plans for the 1700 homes: “Our ambition is to secure really high-quality housing development and community facilities while protecting and enhancing green spaces and biodiversity on these three sites.

“Development briefs let us get further into the detail of what the new homes, and the infrastructure supporting them, will look like and how they will be laid out. They are therefore a really important tool to support our overall ambitions for the sites.”

A spokesperson for the Cherwell District Council added, in respect to concerns about the suggested football stadium: “Any proposal for a new football ground at Stratfield Brake would need to be submitted to Cherwell District Council as the Local Planning Authority and tested in the normal way through the planning system. To date no such application has been received.”

The development, however, is surrounded by a spate of similar developments taking place on previously untouched land.

Just north of the Wolvercote Roundabout, there are plans to create the ‘Oxford North’ site.

This will see 480 new homes, and 4,500 new jobs for the city, being built on the fields centred around the A40, A34, and A44.

Less than two miles away, a smaller development has been given the green light by the city council.

The planning application was submitted by home builders, Croudace Homes, to build 74 houses and 61 flats, with the blocks reaching as high as five storeys.

The decision was unanimously approved by the council’s planning committee; however, concerns were raised over whether the water network would be able to cope with the sheer amount of development taking place in the area.

Members of the public questioned the impact the developments would have on residents nearby, and crucially how Thames Water will be able to deal with extra sewage.

Concerns over the water company’s ability to handle sewage volumes comes after a protest was held last month in Port Meadow against sewage dumping by Thames Water into the rivers.

Over 500 people were in attendance, including Oxford West and Abingdon Lib Dem MP, Layla Moran, who said the event showed how ‘desperately’ people wanted ‘action’ from Thames Water, ‘not just words’.

The city council’s report acknowledges Thames Water had been ‘unable to determine the foul water infrastructure needs’ of the development, and that ‘upgrades to the water network would be required’ to serve any more than 49 homes.

The Council officer applied conditions stating ‘no development shall be occupied’ until foul water capacity is established with Thames Water and no more than 49 homes will be lived in until plans for the rest of the network are passed.