NO ONE can doubt the need for more housing in central Oxfordshire, both for those on housing waiting lists and to provide for those currently unable to afford to buy or even rent, within easy reach of their jobs.

Oxford City has 46,000 people commuting every day, due to the concentration of jobs in the city.

Too many are currently driving because of poor transport links from where they live.

It is simplistic to say that the answer is to build another 28,000 houses in or very close to the city boundaries.

Oxford City Council’s Labour administration’s answer is to tack on ‘city suburbs’ north and south of the existing boundaries, building on Green Belt land in the surrounding districts.

When challenged on this annexation of Green Belt land, Labour’s answer is to say it is only one per cent of the whole Green Belt, so is a small price to pay.

But this totally ignores the undeniable consequent ‘urban sprawl’ that Green Belts were made to prevent.

Also, jobs are needed in Oxfordshire’s towns where people already live so they could then get to work more sustainably.

This would be instead of so many jobs being concentrated in the city area, where transport is difficult even now, and where remedying this will be very difficult.

Housing for key workers in accessible sites is needed.

Liberal Democrats believe that the problem should be addressed differently.

New housing of a range of types should be concentrated where there are good public transport links into the city and to the hospitals, a major employment site.

The Barton Park development is a huge missed opportunity to include key worker housing, as it is ideally situated for those working at the hospitals.

There could also be better links than currently proposed across the A40, to allow easy cycling and bus access to that part of the city.

The new rail services from Bicester and beyond will carry people across the Green Belt into the heart of the city, as well as to employment sites in the east and southeast of the city, where there are excellent bus connections – and the prospect of possible passenger use of the Cowley branch line.

At last there are serious discussions on how to get people from Witney and Carterton into Oxford, including the possible use of the old railway track bed for a tram-train or similar.

More needs to be done to improve rail connections from Didcot with more stops at intermediate stations.

Grove station must be re-opened.

Labour’s promise, made by Ed Balls recently, to protect the Green Belt “to allow communities to keep their integrity, rather than spreading all over the place,” is shown to be a hollow one by the Labour city council’s current aspirations.

Liberal Democrats believe that the Green Belt review, currently being carried out for the new Oxfordshire Growth Board, must be fully open, thorough and involve public consultation.

Even if it is irrefutably proven that in order to meet local needs it is necessary to build in the Green Belt, Liberal Democrats believe that there should be a halt to development proposals at least until this review has reported its findings.

There should be no ‘nibbling away’ at the Green Belt, as currently proposed by both Labour on the city council and the Tories in both the Vale of White Horse District Council and Cherwell District Council.

All five districts in Oxfordshire should recognise the need to find sites to house those working in central Oxfordshire and the current lack of co-operation is of considerable concern.

Oxfordshire County Council needs to ensure that the transport links are there to address the appalling congestion currently affecting all routes into the city.