Oxford development plan approved by city council

Planning permission is usually not granted to buildings exceeding the height of the Carfax tower

Plans to build "upwards" in Oxford and develop parts of the green belt to solve a housing shortage have been approved by the city council.

The Oxford Local Plan 2036 prioritises homes, including social housing, within the city's boundaries.

Usually planning permission has not been granted to any buildings exceeding the 18.2m (60 ft) Carfax tower.

But Alex Hollingsworth, head of planning, said some new buildings could possibly enhance the skyline.

He said: "That skyline [is] probably the single most famous thing about Oxford, the dreaming spires.

"What we're talking about is protecting it in a different way.

"Where a building is proposed which is higher it's got to enhance, so there's a qualitative test not just a number, and I think that's a better way of doing things."

'Future-looking city'

He said Oxford could not be treated "like an artefact".

"It would be easy to wrap up the historical core in aspic and turn our home into a monument to the past.

"Oxford's not about that: We are a future-looking city, and we have to meet that challenge head-on."

The plan will also make it easier for employers like the NHS, Oxfordshire County Council, and the universities to build housing for staff on their own land.

The council says there is room for 8,000 new homes, and the plan proposes to "build upwards and increase densities" and allocate 18 hectares of green belt land, which it says is 0.02 % of its total size.

But it also says the need for new homes is higher than the space available, and that neighbouring districts will also have to build extra homes.

A third and final round of consultation has been approved before the plan is submitted to the government inspector early next year.