THE need for new homes to be built in Oxfordshire has never been more urgent.

A strategic economic plan for the county estimates that the total number of new homes needed for the county by 2031 is 100,000, including 15,000 to serve Oxford.

But district councils have been criticised by the Home Builders Federation for being reluctant to meet these housing targets.

The focus of the battle, as it has been for some time, is Oxford’s Green Belt and, while the city council is desperate to build more homes to meet the housing need, neighbouring councils are reluctant to allow such developments to go ahead.

House builders should not expect the process of achieving planning permission for new homes to get any easier in the immediate future, as campaign groups in the county have formed a new alliance to fight development plans.

The 14 Oxfordshire groups, called Need not Greed Oxon, have vowed to derail such an “aggressive” economic strategy.

Backers of the campaign include Oxford Green Belt Network, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the Rural Oxfordshire Action Rally (ROAR) and several other groups.

Despite their opposition Oxford East MP Andrew Smith has called for a review of the Green Belt, claiming that it was now “strangling” the city.

This is a long-standing argument that is not going to go away and it appears to be intensifying.

The Government must show leadership if it feels the old-fashioned planning processes are no longer fit for purpose.

But it must be careful not ride roughshod over local democracy as it pledges to devolve more powers and responsibility to local government.

Perhaps the best way forward right now is to focus on smaller-sized developments rather than holding out for the next Barton Park.