Latest News

• 7 May 2008: CPRE Oxon News Release 'Oxford Green Belt - Robustly Protected or Under Threat?'.
• 7 May 2008: CPRE NO News Release 'Green Belt Loss a Daily Reality Despite Government Pledges'.
• May 2008: CPRE NO Briefing 'Green Belts - Robustly Protected or Under Threat?'.
• May 2008: SODC "Hands off our Green belt" campaign. See below.
• April 2008: Proposed eco-town, Weston-Otmoor, of upto 15,000 dwellings. Approximately 28% of the proposed 800 hectare (2,000 acre) site lies within the Green Belt.
• March 2008: Proposed extension of the Thornhill Park & Ride in the Green Belt aims to create a ‘Transport Hub’.
• March 2008: Oxford City Council proposes to erect up to 20 wind turbines in the Green Belt.
• February 2008: In a letter to the editor of the Oxford Times, Helena Whall argues that Oxford is no place for windfarms (8 February).
• January 2008: Planning Inspectorate rejects OCC application for lighting on the grounds that it would cause light pollution and ‘add to the creeping urbanisation into the Green Belt’

  2007

• 29 October 2007: Does Natural England threaten Oxford’s Green Belt?
• 12 October 2007: CPRE proposes a Green Grid for Oxford.
• 21 May 2007: 177 acres of green spaces within Oxford threatened, including parts of the green belt
• 19 April 2007: Oxford colleges set to make over £1 billion from Green Belt land. Oxford Student.
• 16 March 2007: Is a review of Oxford's Green Belt needed? CPRE statement.
• 14 March 2007: Twist in Green Belt battle. Green campaigners believe Oxford City Council has shot itself in the foot by admitting more homes could be built in the city than first thought. Oxford Mail article.
• March 2007. The Examination in Public into the South East Plan has looked at Oxford's green belt. Should there be a review of the boundaries of the green belt, as the City Council and developers, or should it remain intact. The EiP's interim conclusions will be published in the summer. More on the EiP.

7 May 2008: CPRE Oxon News Release 'Oxford Green Belt - Robustly Protected or Under Threat?

Nationally, there has been significant loss of Green Belt land since 1997 and more is planned, despite the commitment of the Prime Minister to robustly protect it. Over 1,100 hectares of Green Belt have been lost each year since 1997 and at least 45,240 homes – equivalent to a city the size of Bath - have been built on Green Belt land since 1997. A Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) investigation of the Government’s record on Green Belt policy since 1997 lists those threats to the Green Belt in Oxfordshire.

May 2008: SODC "Hands off our Green belt" campaign.

At the end of March, SODC initiated an on-line petition for people to register how important the Green Belt is to us.

At the end of the petition time (August 2008) Downing Street will send all signatories a message giving the government's reason's for either doing something or not taking any notice of what the public wants. The main thing is to have 1000s of people signing up. So please take a few minutes to sign up and encourage friends living in or near the Oxford Green Belt to do the same.

The address of the on-line petition is: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SOxonGreenBelt

April 2008: Proposed eco-town, Weston-Otmoor, of upto 15,000 new homes.

Proposed eco-town near Weston-on-the-Green near Bicester for 15,000 dwellings. Approximately 28% of this 800 hectare (2,000 acre) site lies within the Green Belt.

March 2008:Proposed extension of the Thornhill Park & Ride in the Green Belt aims to create a 'Transport Hub'.

To the east of Oxford, an extension of the Thornhill Park & Ride in the Green Belt aims to create a ‘Transport Hub’. Informal consultation with stakeholders ended on 20 March. The planning application is expected in 2009.

CPRE Oxfordshire submitted a statement opposing the extension as part of the consultation process.

March 2008: Oxford City Council proposes to erect up to 20 wind turbines in the Green Belt.

Oxford City Council proposes to erect up to 20 wind turbines on four sites at Cuttleslowe, Hinksey, Horspath, and Sandford which will industrialise the Oxford Green Belt, harming its openness, along with the famous views of Oxford City.

 

Oxford's Green Belt

Oxfordshire's Green Belt is proving too tempting for developers to ignore but it is too precious for us to squander.

The first green belt was proposed in 1935 to curb ribbon development along London's arterial roads. The 1947 Town and Country Planning Act gave local authorities powers to direct development and, in 1955, they were invited to establish their own green belts. In 1956, Oxford councillors had the foresight to suggest they designate the fields surrounding their city as green belt, following a campaign by CPRE and the Oxford Preservation Trust. Designation seems to have been complete by 1958. (For an introduction to Green Belts, see BBC News.)

Green Belts now protect 13% of England. As designated open space surrounding many towns and cities, they play a critical role in creating a high quality of life for people in both town and country. They protect the open character of the countryside next to urban areas and stop sprawl, thereby encouraging urban regeneration. They are a place where we can get a bit of exercise, explore the countryside next door and enjoy some peace and quiet. They are where we grow food, ride horses, and walk and talk in relative peace.

But the reality is that Green Belts face multiple threats, nowhere more so than in Oxfordshire where the proposals (below) currently threaten the rural character of our county.

Kennington. A 30 acre site south of Sandford Lane in the Green Belt for 440 houses. The developers say it could be one of a necklace of smaller sites around the City, most of which would lie in the Green Belt.
Sunningwell. Developers West Waddy ADP (acting on behalf of the local landowner Mr Ted Wilcox) propose up to 6,000 houses, a park and ride scheme and a waste incineration plant to be built wholly within the Green Belt, adjacent to the villages of Sunningwell and Bayworth.
Land south of Grenoble Road. A 1,000 house mixed development was included in the initial Structure Plan draft. Oxford City Council has since suggested 5,000 houses. Magdalen College and Thames Water have promoted 3,000 houses and an extension to the Science Park. At the recent Examination in Public into the South East Plan, David Lock, a planner representing Magdalen College and Thames Water suggested that 4,000 to 8,000 dwellings was the minimum size for a sustainable urban extension, such as that his clients desired south of Grenoble Road.
Shipton-on-Cherwell. A planning application by Kilbride Properties Ltd for development of the former limestone quarry (for a mixture of uses including industrial and commercial) was approved on 14 January by the County Planning Committee. This will have serious wildlife and traffic implications.
Bebroke. Oxford University and Merton College are keen to develop land they own in Begbroke between Sandy Lane and Begbroke Lane, all of which is in the Green Belt.
Oxford Airport. Up to 160,000 flights a year are planned as the airport shifts from training to commercial flights.
A34 Corridor. Oxford City Council has proposed a Strategic Development Area along the A34 corridor stretching from the City south towards Abingdon and Didcot. This would be adjacent to the City and on the Green Belt. A major hub has been suggested at Lodge Hill.
Horspath & Garsington. Oxford City Council, BMW and Brasenose College are pressing for housing and industrial development in the Green Belt.

! Thornhill Park & Ride. To the east of Oxford, an extension of the Thornhill Park & Ride in the Green Belt aims to create a ‘Transport Hub’.

! Weston-Otmoor. Proposed eco-town near Weston-on-the-Green for 15,000 dwellings. Approximately 28% of this 800 hectare (2,000 acre) site lies within the Green Belt.

! Wind Farms. Oxford City Council proposes to erect up to 20 wind turbines on four sites at Cuttleslowe, Hinksey, Horspath, and Sandford which will industrialise the Oxford Green Belt, harming its openness, along with the famous views of Oxford City.

CPRE on the Green Belt

CPRE South East told the inquiry into the South East Plan that:

The current world scale success of London is at least in part because of the existence of the Metropolitan Green Belt… [which] has also protected market towns around London, which have maintained their character, and some have become significant economic hubs themselves and rivers of the economy in the South East… The academic, research and economic vibrancy of Oxford is proof that the established fact of the Oxford Green Belt has not limited this success… There is no case for a strategic review of the Green Belts within the [South East] region. Full statement.

Further information

• A Green Grid for Oxford
• Urban extension south of Grenoble Road
• Oxford's green spaces are under threat
• Oxford Green Belt Network
• CPRE statement to the Examination in Public of the South East Plan
• Barker Report on Land Use Planning
• Oxford 2026: the City of Dreaming Spires has become the City of Dreary Sprawl
• Map of Oxfordshire Green Belt Parishes
• Map of the Green Belts of England
• The Oxford Green Belt Way
• Government Green Belt Policy (PPG2)
• Wikipedia on the history and facts of the green belts