VILLAGES north of Oxford could be 'destroyed' by plans to build 4,400 homes around Kidlington, Yarnton and Begbroke, residents say.

Campaign groups warned the 'vast urban sprawl' would radically change the nature of the villages as Cherwell District Council revealed proposed sites for a series of new communities, much of it on Green Belt land.

A new railway station could also be built between Begbroke and Yarnton and three primary schools, as well as a 900-pupil secondary school, are also included in the plans.

Cherwell, which has revealed the proposals as part of an agreement to ease a housing shortage in Oxford, said the homes needed to be close to the city.

Bu Chairman of the Begbroke and Yarnton Green Belt campaign, Giles Lewis, said: "It is outrageous that communities with a history which is as long as Oxford's can be destroyed at the whim of councillors.

 

He added: "If these homes are built it will radically change the nature of the villages, with North Oxford being extended, and that will erode the quality of the city that makes it so attractive."

 

Alan Lodwick, from campaign group Kidlington Development Watch, said: "This level of growth will make existing traffic problems much worse and destroy open countryside and habitats.

 

"The area between Oxford and Woodstock including Kidlington, Begbroke and Yarnton would start to become a vast urban sprawl."

 

The plans, which will need to go out to consultation, would see a 1,950-home community built on land east of the A44 at Begbroke with two primary schools and a secondary school created around the existing Oxford University Begbroke Science Park.

 

While 1,180 homes, and another primary school, have been allocated to land north of Oxford between Cutteslowe and the A34, including North Oxford Golf Club.

 

The club, which has played golf on the site since 1907, could be relocated to Frieze Farm - just yards from its current course.

 

A further 530 homes are planned west of the A44 near Yarnton, with 330 more on the south and east boundaries of Kidlington and 410 on the edge of Woodstock - the only site chosen outside the Green Belt.

 

Discussions will need to be held over the nature of the developments but various landowners, including Exeter College, Merton College, Oxford University Press and Blenheim Estates are believed to be keen to bring forward schemes in the future.

 

Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said having 'the worst housing crisis' in the country provided the exceptional circumstances needed to build on Green Belt land.

 

He said: "It is not urban sprawl - it is the development of planned sustainable new communities.

 

"We have the country's worst housing crisis, the most expensive houses in the country, some of highest rents and the longest waiting lists for social housing.

 

"And with employment growth in the area we need the housing."

 

Bus lane improvements would create 'rapid transit routes' into the city and a cycle super highway would run from Kidlington, past Oxford Parkway into Oxford.

 

Mr Price also backed plans for a new railway station and said the developments would become an attractive place to live.

 

He said: "In addressing Oxford's unmet need there needs to be sustainable access to jobs in Oxford.

 

"Rail has already made a huge difference with Oxford Parkway and a stop here will mean many people in the Begbroke and Kidlington developments could walk or cycle to get the train - it will be a nice place to live."

 

The plans also include 'compensatory' land for open space with Cutteslowe Park being extended and a nature reserve being created west of Yarnton.

 

But Director of the Campaign to Protect Rural England Oxfordshire branch, Helen Marshall, said the loss of Green Belt land was inexcusable.

 

She said: "Building in the Green Belt is not a matter of choice for councils, but a last resort, to be undertaken only if there is no alternative and where there are ‘exceptional circumstances’".

 

"Once gone the Green Belt can never be replaced; the public knows it is wrong to carve it up piecemeal as Cherwell intend.

 

"Short-term housing need does not and should not trump permanence of Green Belt protection, which is an environmental resource for future generations."

 

Cherwell District Council leader, Barry Wood, said: "We are of the view the development must be provided so that it is well connected to Oxford and supports the city's economy, universities and its local employment base.

 

"In addition growth must ensure that people have convenient, affordable and sustainable travel opportunities to the city's place of work and to its services and facilities."

 

Cherwell's executive board are expected to approve the draft allocations on Monday before a consultation gets under way.