Oxford City Council, developers and others are calling for a review of Oxford's Green Belt. They do not intend that it should be abolished, but argue that urban extensions into the Green Belt should be allowed, perhaps with the outer edge being moved outward to compensate. CPRE believes that a review is not necessary and would not be in the best interests of the City of Oxford and Oxfordshire.

Why is CPRE opposed to a review?

The Oxford Green Belt is a hugely successful planning policy that has protected the character of Oxford City and prevented the endless sprawl that has blighted many other cities in Britain:

• Oxford is a unique city on the world stage. This uniqueness is founded on the quality of its historical, natural and intellectual environments. The Green Belt has helped preserve all three of these, and has helped protect the world famous Oxford "brand name".
• The constraint of the Green Belt encourages the City Council to fully examine its options within the city itself. Despite its previous arguments for up to 8,000 houses south of Grenoble Road, City Council planners have already found that there is sufficient space within the city for 10,000 of the 12,000 houses it says it requires by 2026. Without the constraint of the Green Belt, the City Council will focus its attention outward to green fields, especially on the land it owns, not inward to the brownfield sites within the city.
• The City Council says that 98% of the Green Belt will remain intact. This statement predicts the outcome of any review and only takes account of its own ambitions. Several developers, as well as the City Council, have expressed an interest in building in Oxford's Green Belt, and many others are bound to break cover if a review of the Green Belt is announced.
• The loss of a few percent of Green Belt sounds minor but it involves loss of some of the most important land. The inner edge of the Green Belt is the most important for protecting the character of the City of Oxford and potentially has the most value as open space for the City's citizens.
• Planning mechanisms already exist to allow some building in the Green Belt where there are exceptional circumstances. These have been used, for example, to allow expansion of the BMW plant.

None of those that argue for a review of Oxford's Green Belt have yet made a coherent case. CPRE believes that a review is neither required, nor in the best interests of the City of Oxford and Oxfordshire as a whole.

• More on the threats to Oxford's Green Belt
• Twist in Green Belt battle. Oxford Mail article (14 March 2007)