Campaign groups and politicians have reacted to plans to build thousands of new homes on green belt land which they say is "already under enormous pressure".
With the General Election taking place today and the party dubbed very likely to win pledging 1.5m new houses for Britain, a countryside charity is claiming more than eight in 10 residents in the county would like to see the green belt undeveloped.
The green belt relates to an area of land on which building is restricted, with the Oxford Green Belt being centred on the city of Oxford, along with surrounding areas.
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Helen Marshall, director of CPRE Oxfordshire - Campaign to Protect Rural England - said: “10 years ago we commissioned research which showed that over 70 per cent of Oxfordshire wanted the green belt to remain undeveloped.
"10 years later support for the green belt has increased to over 80 per cent.
"I am sure this reflects the fact that as it comes under more and more pressure, the benefit of keeping it undeveloped is more apparent and the need to fight to do so, as CPRE has always done, is more obvious."
The plea comes as different parties have taken varying stances on green belt land.
Ms Marshall said there had been a 62 per cent increase in the loss of green belt land since 2013 under the Conservative government despite promises to protect it.
The current Conservative manifesto says the party will protect the green belt from "uncontrolled development".
The Labour party, as well as pledging 1.5m new homes for Britain, says it will designate some green belt land as ‘grey belt’ and that “the release of lower quality ‘grey belt’ land will be prioritised”.
Oxford City Council has been criticised by other district councils in Oxfordshire for "offloading" its housing need onto them.
City council Labour leader Susan Brown said: "Labour is committed to fixing the housing crisis that is blighting the lives of people up and down the country.
"House prices and rents are out of control, and the number of families who are homeless has soared after 14 years of failure to build enough homes.
"Labour’s policy here is clear.
"We are committed to keeping high quality green belt land free of development, but there is plenty of land which is designated as green belt but which is previously developed or of very low quality – what’s called ‘grey belt’.
"When homes are so desperately needed, it makes no sense to stop them being built on land like this.
"For far too long the Government and campaign groups like the CPRE have ignored the misery and damage that the shortage of housing is causing people up and down the country. This needs to change, and it needs to change now. Oxford needs homes."
The Green Party says in its manifesto it will “seek to strengthen and prevent any rollback of existing protections of the Green Belt”, recognising that it “wasn't established only to protect nature sites… but also to prevent urban sprawl".
Kidlington Green councillor Ian Middleton said: "I'm personally opposed to building on the green belt – it’s there for a reason.
"We obviously do need more affordable housing.
"My view on green belt land is if it's supported by the local community then it's something we can look at.
"Developers like to target green belt land because it's an easy development for them.
"They don't have to worry much about infrastructure under the land and it is also a premium area for them to develop."
Some people have blamed the increased need for housing on growing demand due to an increase in net migration.
Mr Middleton said: "I think that's a bit of a get-out actually.
"I don't think it's had that much of an impact on housing need."
Oxford East Conservative MP candidate Louise Brown previously said net migration was "too high" and "unsustainable", "putting huge pressure on housing supply and public services".
She later said she wanted to "provide solutions to the problem, not people to blame".
Ms Brown added: "The house building industry has always been an indicator of economic growth and we do need to provide homes.
"The planning system needs simplifying and we need to find ways to encourage smaller builders into the sector by giving them incentives. They usually build better and are more likely to build on brownfield sites."
In her capacity as secretary of the Harbord Road Area Residents Association, based between Kidlington and Oxford, Suzanne McIvor said: "As part of the Growth Deal in 2015 local politicians committed to building 100,000 houses in Oxfordshire.
"Over 19,000 of them will be built on the Oxford Green Belt.
"The green belt is clearly valued by many residents but is already under enormous pressure.
"Local infrastructure is already overloaded - GPs, hospitals, roads, and in particular our sewage and waste water services which can't cope with the existing houses.
"Increased supply doesn't result in house prices falling so they are still unaffordable for many. It will be interesting to see if Labour targets Oxfordshire and if so how it approaches the problem of infrastructure."
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About the author
Noor is the Local Democracy Reporter for Oxfordshire who covers political stories from across the county.
She began working as a journalist in Oxford in September 2023 having graduated from the University of Oxford.
Noor was trained at the News Associates journalism school and can be found on X through the handle @NoorJQurashi
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