Grenoble Road: Both sides claim victory in housing clash (From Oxford Mail)

Grenoble Road: Both sides claim victory in housing clash

CAMPAIGNERS for and against building houses in Oxford’s green belt were both last night trying to claim a victory as the Government admitted its South East Plan was flawed.

The Oxfordshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England had launched a High Court challenge to the plan after the Government gave the go-ahead for a development of up to 4,000 homes on land south of Grenoble Road.

The CPRE claimed not enough consideration had been given to using sites within the current city boundary instead and yesterday the Department for Communities and Local Government confirmed it would not be fighting the case.

The CPRE said it meant the current proposal was “dead”, yet Oxford City Council – a key backer of the homes scheme – was claiming the decision had moved the whole project forward and shortened any period of uncertainty.

Thame district CPRE chairman Michael Tyce said: “At the very least, this means that alternative sites will be properly looked at but my belief is that we have heard the last of plans to build south of Grenoble Road.

“It think it’s dead in the water, because it would take a considerable amount of time to go through the process again, In the current economic climate, I don’t believe it will ever happen.

“The 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.”

However, the city council’s deputy leader, Ed Turner, said: “I’m absolutely confident that the planned housing south of Grenoble Road will go ahead, because our case is overwhelmingly strong.

“What this means is that rather than debating this in the courts, at considerable cost to the public purse, the extra work examining alternative sites will be done immediately.

“This moves things forward and should shorten any period of uncertainty.”

And the council’s head of development, Michael Crofton Briggs, added: “If the CPRE statement is correct, then this is good news for Oxford City Council.

“We’re 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.

“We anticipate this further work, including further consultation and the final publication of the plan, will take just under six months.”

A Government spokesman confirmed that it would not be contesting six legal challenges to the South East Plan, including the one made by Oxfordshire CPRE, but would not comment further.

South Oxfordshire District Council, within whose boundaries the Grenoble Road site lies, opposes any development there, as does the county council.