PLANS for thousands of new homes in and around Oxford – seen as key to easing the city’s housing crisis – have been thrown into doubt.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England is celebrating news that plans for the Northern Gateway business park at Pear Tree and 1,000 new homes in Barton have been put on hold.

It follows the group’s successful legal challenge to proposals for 4,000 homes on land south of Grenoble Road, adjacent to Greater Leys.

A Government planning inspector had been set to decide this month whether the Pear Tree and Barton projects could go ahead, as part of his findings on the city council’s core development strategy.

However, David Fenton said he cannot make up his mind until a ruling is made by the High Court on six legal challenges submitted by the CPRE over Grenoble Road, which is part of the separate South East Plan process.

Last month the Government admitted its plan was flawed because not enough consideration was given to building homes elsewhere in central Oxfordshire before selecting Green Belt land on the edge of the city for development.

And fears have now been voiced that the Grenoble Road extension is a dead duck, after it emerged it could take up to six months to review other sites.

With a General Election due next spring, the Conservatives have already pledged to abolish the South East Plan if they win power and give decision-making power to local authorities, in this case South Oxfordshire District Council, which opposes the development.

City councillor David Rundle, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said: “There’s no doubt what has been said is another nail in the coffin of Grenoble Road, unfortunately and frustratingly.

“I have always said there should have been a full strategic review of the Green Belt before Grenoble Road was chosen.

“If the Government had done that, it wouldn’t have been so easy to mount a legal challenge.”

Alan Jones, chairman of the CPRE in Oxfordshire, said: “We were delighted that our legal challenge succeeded and the threat to the Green Belt has been averted – for now.

“It’s clear that the city should not be allowed to press on with its expansion plans and that the growth of the city needs a radical re-think.”

The city council’s head of development, Michael Crofton-Briggs, said he was hopeful of getting the Barton and Pear Tree plans back on track within a “few months”. He said the city’s core strategy should be considered separately from any Grenoble Road development.

Ed Turner, the council’s executive member for housing, said: “The delays are outside our control but we will be pressing the Secretary of State to resolve the uncertainty surrounding the regional plan as early as possible.”