'County could take more than 75,000 new homes'

The report on housing in the South East says central Oxfordshire is one of four region's offering "the most potential" for housing growth.

And its publication suggests the Government is ready to challenge housing numbers set out in the South East Plan, which goes before an Examination in Public in the autumn.

The report, commissioned by the Government, examines the impact of building nearly one million extra homes in the South East over the next 20 years.

For Oxfordshire that would mean an extra 30,000 homes by 2026 on top of the 47,200 for the county already proposed in the draft South East Plan.

Andy Boddington, of the Oxfordshire Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: "The worse case scenario is that Oxfordshire, already expecting to build enough new homes to build a new Banbury, will have to find room for a settlement the size of Bicester as well.

"If the highest figures in this report are adopted, one in two houses would have to be built on green fields, gobbling up Oxfordshire's countryside.

"The danger of the Government's projections is that they will become a self-fulfilling prophecy and the Government will plump for the maximum number of houses, and the rural character of the South East and Oxfordshire would be destroyed."

The Government asked consultants to assess alternative options to the housing growth figures submitted to the Government by the regional assembly after more than two years' work.

The report appears to suggest that Seera (South East of England Regional Assembly) may have underestimated demand by up to 59 per cent.

The Draft South East Plan, drawn up by Seera, calls for 28,900 new homes to be built in the region every year until 2026.

But the independent study, carried out on behalf of the Government Office South East, suggests that between 33,000 and 46,000 homes may have to be built every year.

Translated to Oxfordshire that would mean as many as 3,818 homes a year, with 2,914 in the central part of the county.

Keith Mitchell, leader of Oxfordshire county council and chairman of Seera, said: "The Government slipped out this report quietly on its website. We have devoted more than two years to ensuring our own plans are practical and deliverable, balancing the need for homes with environmental concerns.

"Strong technical work and the country's largest regional planning consultation mean we have built a high degree of consensus behind the South East Plan.

"This is back of the envelope stuff compared to the robust evidence base developed by the assembly. With the support of public opinion too, I am confident that we will have the strongest case at November's Examination in Public."

He feared the new report would be used by the Government in putting its case for significantly more development.

But a Government spokesman said: "The report is from the consultants Roger Tym & Partners. It is not a statement of Government policy and does not signal its preference. It is an independent technical exercise to consider the impacts of accommodating growth above that proposed by Seera."

Meanwhile, Oxford City Council's new Lib Dem administration signalled that it will not be following the former Labour administration in pressing for a speedy expansion of Oxford to meet the city's housing shortages.

Instead, it is calling for a major review of the Oxford Green Belt before any decision is taken.

The Lib Dem administration this week moved to distance itself from a bid made to the Government in May to become "a sustainable growth area".

In its bid for a share of £40m towards housing infrastructure, the city council said 14,000 new homes were needed on the edge of Oxford. It told the Government that the two most likely locations for growth were south of Grenoble Road and a location between Kidlington and Begbroke.

But as ministers revealed Oxford and Didcot were in the running for the cash, the Lib Dems made clear that a Green Belt review must be "a prerequisite to any decision on the location of the additional housing". Council leader John Goddard said any funding received should pay towards the review.