Countryside charity wants district council to relocate 300 houses planned for greenbelt to Banbury area

A countryside that protects the countryside has written to Cherwell District Council requesting 300 homes that are proposed for green belt land be redistributed to other housing sites in the district.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England Oxfordshire branch suggests the 300 houses proposed for the land at Kidlington should be built on sites already in the draft Cherwell Plan.

The charity says the extra houses distributed across sites in North Oxfordshire will not make any noticeable difference and that the density targets proposed by the plan are low, and a small tweak would prevent any homes needing to be built on the green belt.

Helen Marshall, the director of CPRE Oxfordshire, said: "We hope that CDC will remove this allocation and focus on delivering an innovative, ambitious housing plan that minimises land take and delivers well-designed and sustainable communities.

Residents of Hanwell village have been fighting proposed housing developments on the outskirts of their village.

"The Oxford Green Belt is a vital and much-loved resource for Oxfordshire residents and helps to protect the countryside from encroachment. The allocation would lead to a further significant loss of amenity for local residents and further disintegration of the Oxford Green Belt in an area that is already under enormous pressure."

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The land around Kidlington was redrawn in the Cherwell Local Plan Part 1 Review, which allocated 4,400 houses to the area of the green belt less than 18 months ago.

Cherwell District Council has deferred the consultation on the future of development in the district to allow more time to consider feedback received on the proposed Cherwell Plan.

Cllr Colin Clarke, portfolio holder for planning, said: "In the coming years many vital decisions on the future of housing, employment and infrastructure will flow from the Local Plan. It’s a pivotal piece of work for the district and officers have done an excellent job so far in creating a comprehensive draft for councillors to consider.

"We are a council that listens, and the executive feels that taking the opportunity to reflect on the valuable feedback of the overview and scrutiny committee is a prudent step that can only help us deliver a more useful consultation and a more robust final Plan."