The battle for Oxford's Green Belt has taken a new twist with land south of Grenoble Road earmarked as a potential site for thousands of new homes after all.

The land was effectively saved from development when it was excluded from the county council's Structure Plan -- a blueprint for housing growth between 2006 and 2016 -- earlier this year.

But a group of 10 councillors, unhappy at an imminent county council consultation to ask thousands of people in Oxfordshire where they want 8,000 new homes built, has succeeded in getting the land considered for development once again.

The consultation exercise, which was due to start today and run until October 28, gives people two options -- 4,000 homes each in Bicester and Didcot or 4,000 in Didcot, and 2,000 each in Bicester and Wantage/Grove.

It also allows people to say where they think 8,000 homes could go -- without explicitly mentioning land in the Green Belt.

This exercise has now been put on hold after the 10 councillors challenged the authority of the council's policy-making cabinet to publish a consultation document with such specific and limited proposals.

The environment and economy scrutiny committee will now discuss alternative sites -- including land south of Grenoble Road -- at a meeting next Wednesday.

The decision has infuriated Green Belt campaigners -- not least because it is supported by Larry Sanders, the Green group leader on the county council.

Elizabeth Gillespie, of the Baldons Parish Council, said: "We're very disappointed that the Green Party has naively decided to walk into the trap set by Oxford City Council and its Labour supporters on the county council.

"They may try to justify this on technical legal grounds, but the truth is that the purpose of the call-in is to reopen the debate over the Green Belt.

"Those of us who have opposed this have subjected ourselves to the full democratic process.

"It seems there are still politicians who cannot accept that they lost the argument over the Green Belt."

Supporters of an urban extension to Oxford argue housing is best built around the city to support those who work there but currently have to commute on clogged roads like the A34.

County council Labour group leader Liz Brighouse said: "The environment scrutiny committee is legally obliged to look at the consultation document again.

"We firmly believe that land south of Grenoble Road needs to be considered because Bicester and Didcot cannot take all the growth for Oxfordshire.

"An urban extension to Oxford needs to be considered if we are going to meet massive future housing needs."

The final say rests with the council's all-Tory cabinet, which is largely against Green Belt development.