THE result of the current public inquiry into plans to develop 1,200 homes on land west of Oxford’s Barton estate is set to be announced later this year.

A housing and sites development document which highlights a series of potential places to build new homes within the city limits is currently going through the process of assessment.

The city council’s longstanding ambition to build up to 4,000 homes on Green Belt land south of Grenoble Road on the city’s southern boundary is currently at a political impasse due to differences of opinion between Oxford City Council, which wants to build the homes, and South Oxfordshire District Council, where the land is situated, which opposes its development.

City council leader Bob Price said: “We will continue to have discussions about the Grenoble Road area, because it could cope with a number of houses and could be a major factor in dealing with these problems.

“What this does is underline the need to tackle the housing problem even more urgently than we did before because the growth is significant.”

Big developments in the past few years have included the former Oxford Bus Company garage in Reliance Way, off Cowley Road, and at the former Slade Park Territorial Army barracks, off Horspath Driftway.