Oxford’s southern city boundary, Grenoble Road, serves as a stark contrast between urban development and the preservation of the natural landscape. On one side lies the expanding science park and Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium, set to host Championship football next month. The other side boasts the serene views of the Oxfordshire Green Belt, with its wheat fields and wooded hills, disrupted only by a line of pylons leading from Didcot power station. This area, designated as protected land in the 1950s, serves as a prime example of the Green Belt’s purpose: to prevent urban sprawl and maintain a balance between city living and access to nature.
Michael Tice, a member of the Oxfordshire branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, has been a vocal advocate for the preservation of the Green Belt since his retirement in 1993. However, even he has had to concede defeat in the face of a new development. A 3,000-home housing project, connected to the science park and funded by billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, has received planning permission on the Green Belt land. Tice sees this as evidence that current planning laws are already too lenient in protecting the countryside, and fears that proposed reforms by the Labour party will only make it harder to preserve the Green Belt’s integrity.
“The Green Belt is a popular concept,” Tice explains. “In a recent poll conducted in Oxfordshire, 80% of respondents expressed their support for it, even those living outside of its boundaries. If a vote were held, it would garner twice as many votes as the Labour party. The current decision-making process allows for sites as beautiful as this to be developed, and the argument is that the rules do not need to be loosened, but rather tightened.”
Grenoble Road is not the only area in Oxford that has seen development encroach upon the Green Belt. In the face of a growing economy and increasing demand for housing, the city has had to make difficult decisions to meet its housing needs. The thriving tech, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing industries have joined the ranks of academia, hospitals, and the BMW Mini plant as factors attracting people to live and work in Oxford. However, with the city’s high property prices, affordability has become a pressing issue for many. This has led to the carving out of three notches in the Green Belt for housing developments in recent years.
Chris Smowton, co-founder of the Oxford Yimby group (Yes In My Back Yard), advocates for more strategic and sustainable development, both in the city center and on its outskirts. As a Liberal Democrat councillor, he recognizes the need for growth but emphasizes the importance of careful planning. He believes that “green belt hopping,” where housing developments are pushed further away from the city, creates a strain on transportation and ultimately harms the environment. Smowton’s preferred approach is to increase density in the inner areas of cities like Oxford, creating walkable neighborhoods and preserving the natural landscape. However, he acknowledges the city’s housing deficit and the need for some outward growth, but stresses the importance of managing it responsibly and as close to the city as possible.
