Landowners and developers are scrambling to get in on the act to provide thousands of new homes for Witney and west Oxfordshire.

Five major sites have been put forward for the next phase of Witney's expansion, while smaller sites have been identified as potential development areas for the district's two other major towns, Carterton and Chipping Norton.

Over the coming two months, they will be reviewed as part of public consultation in the drawing up of a Local Development Framework (LDF) - which the Government has introduced to replace Local Plans - for the district for the next 18 years, through to 2026.

In Witney the major sites are all greenfield and submissions for them have come in from two consortiums, a development company and planning consultancy.

They are: 107 acres of land south of the A40 Witney bypass and bordering part of Ducklington village (JWPC, Abbey Developments) The Cogges Triangle, 32 acres of land east of the existing Cogges estate and bordering the A40 and Oxford Road (Carter Jonas, East Witney Land Consortium) 23 acres of land north of Oxford Road (Carter Jonas, East Witney Land Consortium) North Witney, 58 acres directly north of the existing Madley Park estate (RPS, North Witney Con- sortium) North Curbridge, 72 acres north of the A40 between Deer Park Road and Downs Road (Barton Wilmore partnership).

Smaller sites include the Buttercross Works, off Station Lane, land south of Curbridge, and land at the north end of Ducklington.

The developments would also put greater pressure on the town's roads, and the county council is preparing to put in its latest planning application for the Cogges Link Road, with the earliest opening date now 2011.

West Oxfordshire District Council's cabinet gave the go-ahead for consultation on the LDF last Wednesday.

Tina Rowley, planning policy manager, said the process should begin by the end of the month and continue until May 12.

She said copies of the plans were available from council offices at Church Green, Witney, and the one-stop shop in the town in Welch Way and on its website at westoxon.gov.uk She said: "If there's a call for public meetings, we'll attend them."

Targets for new housing are set by the Government, but it is down to local councils to determine where they should go.

The target for west Oxfordshire, from 2006 to 2026, is to build 7,300 new homes. Out of that a total of 3,730 have been built, are being built or have allocated sites.

Ms Rowley added: "What's clear is that the vast majority will have to be found on greenfield sites because there is a lack of brownfield in the district."

After consultation, the council expects to draw up a Core Strategy which will be submitted to the Government in July next year.