Green belt ‘disconnect’ challenged by CPRE

CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural Engand Oxfordshire has sent a letter to Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick MP, raising concerns about the disconnect between the Government’s stated commitment to protect Green Belts and the reality of what is happening on the ground in Oxfordshire.

CPRE believes that the current pandemic has shown that urban dwellers now more than ever need easy access to green space, where social distancing is more straightforward, for healthy exercise. They say that local councils and planning inspectors cannot be left with the possibility of removing Green Belt land, using so-called ‘exceptional’ local reasons, to contradict the promises of vital protection made by Government and its Ministers.

The Oxford Green Belt is now facing multiple large-scale incursions: 

Vale of White Horse – 2,710 houses across 5 sites

Oxford City – 724 houses across 8 sites

Cherwell – 4,400 houses across 6 sites

South Oxfordshire – 11,400 houses across 6 sites

“This totals almost 20,000 new houses supposedly to meet Oxford’s need,” explained a CPRE spokesperson. “ But in fact it is equivalent to a new development one third of the existing size of Oxford.

“Oxfordshire residents are losing the countryside on their doorstep, just at the point when we are starting to realise how vital such areas are for health and well-being, food production, and the climate emergency.”

You can read more about CPRE’s battle to protect the Green Belt, its views on ‘affordable homes’ and where they should be built, as well as why it believes Oxforshire’s housing numbers have been overstated HERE and see a map showing where over 19,000 houses are planned for the Oxford Green Belt.