The true scale of what is proposed as part of plans for a new rail link between Oxford and London is only now becoming apparent.

It appears that the price we will have to pay is significant development in the Green Belt between Oxford and Kidlington. The picture is further complicated by a proposed waste establishment in the same location that had earlier won planning permission from Oxfordshire County Council.

Placing the two schemes together, we can understand why Green Belt campaigners are concerned at the scale of what is proposed. Their biggest fear is that both schemes, effectively planned for the same parcel of land, will ultimately go ahead side by side and encroach on to green land.

The Grundons waste facility was approved by the county council before Chiltern Railways had publicly launched its scheme. It was approved in the Green Belt on the grounds that it was a facility that was needed in the Oxford area.

The Oxford-London rail link is a very important transport proposal and few would argue against its merits. If it came to a decision between one or the other, then the rail link would win easily Even among those concerned at development in the Green Belt, there is acceptance of the benefits of the station and rail link.

Oxfordshire County Council cannot go back on its decision to award planning permission to Grundons. It is likely that a planning inquiry this summer will also favour the Chiltern Railways proposal, so something will have to give.

It is inconceivable that the authorities would allow the waste facility to go ahead in such a way that it would end hopes of a new parkway station at Water Eaton.

That means there will have to be some negotiation about how the waste facility either fits on the site or whether it can go somewhere else. The latter course may offer Green Belt campaigners their best hope.