Do large building companies buy greenfield land to develop?

South of England "must allow green field homes"

Hundreds of thousands of new homes will have to be built on the green fields of southern England if a crisis in public service recruitment is to be avoided.

The Guardian
March 2, 2002

Planners say Green Belt must be sacrificed for housing

Green Belt land in Oxfordshire must be sacrificed to make way for affordable housing, say city councillors .

They say the demand for homes in Oxford has reached crisis point and the poorest are being denied a foot on the property ladder.

According to Colin Cook, executive member for planning, potential sites could include land:

• north of the Peartree roundabout
• south of Grenoble Road, Blackbird Leys
• near Oxford Airport, Kidlington
• Dalton Barracks in Abingdon

The county council warned two months ago that the Green Belt between Oxford and Abingdon might be developed , to spare the county's market towns and villages.

The city council believes it would be better to extend Oxford than create a new town at Upper Heyford, as has been suggested.

The county's existing Structure Plan says 35,500 new homes must be created by 2011. But the Government wants Oxfordshire to absorb an additional 12,650 houses.

thisisoxfordshire.co.uk
21 June 2002