Oxford City Council has denied it is "dictating" house building outside its boundaries as it is accused of being "wrong" and told to "sort yourselves out".
The authority is receiving scrutiny for its local plan which sets out its vision to "build more affordable homes, tackle the climate emergency and make Oxford’s economy work for all residents".
Officers have sat down with representatives from the Vale of White Horse, South Oxfordshire and West Oxfordshire districts who are in the process of "challenging" a first draft of the city council's Local Plan 2040 which seeks to "offload" its demand for housing on neighbouring districts.
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A spokesman for the city council has said "our calculations are not arbitrary" and the authority is "not trying to dictate housing numbers or where homes need to be built outside the city".
But director of CPRE (campaign to protect rural England), Helen Marshall, said: “We recognise that the city council is committed to trying to find affordable housing solutions for its residents and to supporting the world-class education and research offered by our universities.
"However, this must not come at the expense of Oxfordshire’s environment, which in fact underpins the health and wellbeing of both residents and the economy.”
They added "sort yourselves out" is the message for Oxford City and raised questions about transport.
Rose Hill & Iffley ward councillor David Henwood, who is an MP candidate for Oxford East, also raised the question of the "problem of connectivity".
The Independent Oxford Alliance representative said: "If these developments are passed, the only way in which they can pass is if there is connectivity in them to where the jobs are.
"The Oxford plan in my view is failing in that regard.
"It offers no potential new employment sites.
"Because of poor connectivity into Oxford I can't see how any authority can approve this.
"That to me is ludicrous.
"Remove the LTNs and improve connectivity and I think it might be a different story."
A spokesman for the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils said: "We are currently making representations to the Examination in Public of the Oxford City Council Local Plan.
"We are stating our case that the city council's method for calculating housing need is wrong, along with raising other concerns with their plan.”
An Oxford City Council spokesman says another 2,289 homes will need to be built on top of current plans - 115 extra homes a year until 2040 across Oxfordshire.
He added: "The context fuelling the need for more homes is Oxfordshire's strong and diverse economy.
"This is forecast to keep growing, even during a prolonged period of economic volatility.
"This is primarily due to our world-class life science, education and technology sectors."
The Local Plan's policies include requiring all new homes and businesses to be "zero carbon" in operation and requiring developments of 10 or more homes to provide at least 40 per cent of affordable housing.
A West Oxfordshire District Council spokesman said: "WODC is committed to working with the city and district councils to address local housing needs. In our currently adopted Local Plan, we have already dedicated sites to meet a proportion of Oxford’s previously identified housing need.
"However, no agreement has been reached on the extent of any further housing need that may need to be accommodated outside of the City’s boundaries.
"Any decisions on such matters will depend on the outcome of the Oxford Local Plan examination and if any further unmet need is identified, cooperation among all Oxfordshire authorities will then be necessary to determine how this can be delivered in the most sustainable manner.”
An Oxford City Council spokesman said: "National planning policy provides a ‘standard method’ as a starting point and not a ceiling for local plan decisions.
"This is out of date. Using the standard method would mean falling further behind in delivering much-needed homes, worsening an affordability crisis and pushing people further away from their jobs to find somewhere affordable to live.
"Building homes as close to the city as possible will make supporting the Local Plan 2040’s commitment to active travel easier and would reduce congestion, carbon emissions and air pollution.
“We are building at least twice the density as our neighbouring districts. And the Local Plan commits to the delivery of high-quality, zero-carbon and affordable homes.
"This is exemplified in the work of our housing company OX Place, which is building a new generation of more than 1,100 sustainable council homes.”
Cherwell District Council has been approached for comment.
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About the author
Noor is the Local Democracy Reporter for Oxfordshire who covers political stories from across the county.
She began working as a journalist in Oxford in September 2023 having graduated from the University of Oxford.
Noor was trained at the News Associates journalism school and can be found on X through the handle @NoorJQurashi
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