The front page of this weeks excellent Oxford Times dropped a golfing bombshell.
Our lords and masters, it reported, at City Hall want to build houses on Southfield Golf Course. Okay it could be a decade in the future before the first sod is turned but the first shot of what could be a bitter battle has been fired.
The Secretary Manager of Southfield was quoted as asking `Why not South Parks`? It`s a good question. All large public spaces are under threat, even Greenfield sites. There is a bigger question here that needs addressing.
If you look around Oxford you will notice that every available plot, back garden or garage is being consumed by a frenzied hunger to build more houses. We are getting like our passenger trains on our railways; unbearably crowded.
The real problem that should be addressed is the virtual freeze on house building outside of the Oxford Ring Road.
Maybe this policy was sensible in the past but it is obvious that it needs to be re-visited before we strangle our city to death.
If Southfield falls what will be next, North Oxford Golf Club, Oxford City`s ground, Shotover Park, allotments and school playing fields ?
This is not just about Southfield. This is about the quality of life in Oxford for us and future generations. Don`t ignore this, it will not go away.