COUNCIL chiefs will try to resurrect their vision of expanding the city into the Green Belt south of Greater Leys.

A new draft housing strategy, which is now open to public consultation, reveals the council still hopes to “influence” South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) over the coming year to re-open the possibility of development south of Grenoble Road.

The city council has long argued that expanding the city into land within South Oxfordshire is the only long-term solution to Oxford’s housing crisis.

It wants to build at least 4,000 homes in Green Belt land.

But when the Coalition Government axed the South East Plan – a regional blueprint for development until 2026 – the decision on the plans was handed back to SODC, which has always opposed the development.

City council deputy leader Ed Turner said: “We live in hope. We still believe the development is a good opportunity for Oxford and the areas around Oxford.

“The Government is always saying it wants councils to understand the opportunities for growth and that it will reward councils who do that.

“My hope is that encouragement reaches councillors in South Oxfordshire and they recognise that development there makes sense.”

The city council argue the extension of the city into the Green Belt has never been properly considered by SODC.

Under the Government’s new planning rules, SODC could benefit from a cash windfall if thousands of new homes are built in the district.

But in his draft conclusions examining SODC’s core strategy – the district’s own planning blueprint – planning inspector Roy Foster backed South Oxfordshire’s position.

The councillor responsible for planning at SODC, Revd Angie Paterson, said there was no prospect of a change of position.

She said: “The inspector in his draft conclusions upheld our position on this as part of the core strategy, and that is where we stand as far as I am concerned.”

The Government has said it will not relax its protection of Green Belt land, despite the recommendations of influential think tank Policy Exchange.

Mr Turner said that without expanding the city’s boundaries, new housebuilding in Oxford would only be “a drop in the ocean” towards solving the city’s housing crisis.

The draft four-year strategy says Oxford remains one of the least affordable areas of the country, with the cheapest 25 per cent of homes priced 10 times higher than the wages earned by the lowest earning 25 per cent of the population.

Houses are twice as expensive as in Swindon, and housing charity Shelter this year named Oxford as the most unaffordable location outside of London for private renting.

More than 6,000 households are on the register for affordable homes, but just 600 become available each year.

Under its strategy, the council wants to build 560 new affordable homes by 2015, and cut the number of households living in temporary accommodation.

It is open for consultation until February 12, 2012, at consultation.oxford.gov.uk.