GOVERNMENT acceptance of legal challenges has raised a huge question mark about green belt policy in Oxford.
The Government has effectively admitted that its long-awaited planning blueprint setting out where homes should be built in the South of England was legally flawed. And it now looks like the whole issue of developing areas of the green belt for housing will have to be reopened.
The South East Plan proposed an extension of Oxford on to green land south of Grenoble Road, where Oxford City Council wants to build 4,000 new homes. But the Grenoble Road scheme and plans for a selective review of the city's green belt have been thrown into chaos, as the Government this week announced that it is not to contest six legal challenges to the planning proposals for Oxford.
One of the successful challenges to the plan was mounted by Oxford University, which claims it had been "unfairly treated and misrepresented by the decision-making process". It also argued that any review of green belt land "should be done properly, not piecemeal".
The other five legal challenges focused on the Government's failure to look at alternative sites to the large area of land near the Kassam Stadium. And it could now mean other sites, such as university land near Yarnton and Begbroke, will have to be reconsidered for thousands of new homes.
The Government decision not to go to court will avoid prolonged legal proceedings centred on the legality of the South East Plan, which has been years in the making.
But there was uncertainty today about whether the climbdown would clear the way for a full-scale review of Oxford's green belt, instead of a limited review focused on the southern edge of the city around Grenoble Road. A measure of the confusion is that both campaigners for and against building houses in Oxford's green belt were both trying to claim a victorv as a result of the Government decision.
Michael Crofton Briggs, head of development at Oxford City Council, said: "We are awaiting formal confirmation from the Government, but it appears that this news means that we don't have to wait for the Government to take this matter to the High Court. This outcome means the Government can formally consider the alternatives for the urban extension to the city and then the city council is confident that the best option will remain south of Grenoble Road. We anticipate that the Government needs to do a piece of work that identifies a number of options, assesses them and comes to a conclusion as to where any additional housing should be planned. This further work, including further consultation and the final publication of the plan, will take just under six months."
But Michael Tyce, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, which issued one of the successful legal challenges, said: "This is not only good news for the green belt, but for Oxford too. Following the decision to accept the validity of CPRE's challenge,the strategy for Oxford will now have to be reconsidered. We are confident that common sense will now prevail, and all thought of Oxford being allowed to sprawl over the green belt will be abandoned."
But some green belt campaigners privately admitted concerns that a full-scale review would open a Pandora's box, leading to developers 'coming out of the woodwork' with new housing schemes.
OXFORDSHIRE campaigners fighting plans to develop thousands of homes on the Green Belt south of Oxford claim they have won a battle to stop the urban extension going ahead.
Proposals for 4,000 homes south of Grenoble Road were included in the government's South East Plan, a blueprint for housing in the county until 20206 (sic), approved in May.
Although the scheme was backed by Oxford City Council, the county branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and South Oxfordshire District Council opposed plans and launched a judicial review of the decision. On Tuesday, the CPRE said John Denham, secretary of state for communities and local government, had conceded that insufficient consideration had been given to alternatives to the proposed urban extension and that plans to build south of Grenoble Road were "almost certainly" dead.
Michael Tyce, CPRE chairman for Thame District, said: "This is not only good news for the Green Belt but for Oxford too. It has always been CPRE's case that reckless expansion is the wrong track for our unique and historic city to take and the city council are misguided to pursue it. The Green Belt setting, and the beauty of the city itself, are its greatest assets and would not survive the city council's endless push for growth and the urban sprawl that would entail. CPRE has consistently said, at all stages of the development of the South East Plan, that the best strategy for Oxford is to use land within the city to solve its present housing pressures, not to build shops and offices which will pull yet more people into Oxford and make its problems worse."
Following the secretary of state's decision, the CPRE claimed the strategy for house building in Oxford would have to be changed. However, Michael Crofton Briggs, head of city development at Oxford City Council, said the decision was good news for the council - and that development south of Grenoble Road was still likely to go ahead. "We are awaiting formal confirmation from the government but it appears that this news means that we don't have to wait for the government to take this matter to the High Court," he said. "A similar case was taken to the High Court over the East of England plan and it failed in the High Court. This outcome means the government can formally consider the alternatives for the urban extension to the city and then the city council is confident that the best option will remain - south of Grenoble Road. We anticipate that this further work, including further consultation and the final publication of the plan, will take just under six months."
A spokesperson for the department for Communities and Local Government said there had been five legal challenges to the South East Plan and it had written to all of the claimants to say it would not be contesting them in court. "The South East needs a long term development vision that addresses housing shortages and strengthens the region's economy," the spokesperson said. "The legal challenge to a small portion of the plan will now be considered by the legal system, therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further."
However, Michael Tyce said the CPRE was confident "common sense would prevail and all thoughts of Oxford being allowed to sprawl over the Green Belt will be abandoned. If it should be resurrected, we stand ready to fight it again," he added.