NIGEL Payne, Planning Inspector, need not advocate a review of the Green Belt in Oxfordshire (June 5).
There are more than 5,600 empty homes in Oxfordshire.
There is also an undetermined number of empty or derelict offices, shops and industrial sites that could be considered for housing.
New homes in the countryside, perhaps on floodplain and land prone to waterlogging, would involve hefty infrastructure costs in flood protection measures, new roads, schools, GP surgeries and shopping areas. Refurbishing existing buildings and brownfield sites would generally mean a lot of essential infrastructure would already be in place.
We do not need planners, councils or the Government to seek the most expensive ways to provide additional homes.
We need them to make use of empty locations within urban settlements.
Councils in Oxfordshire should do street-by-street surveys of empty homes and sites suitable for housing. Let us hear from them how they intend to put this large resource into use.
STEVE DAWE
Press officer
Oxfordshire Green Party
Bulan Road
Oxford
Today’s letters
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