OXFORD has space for more than 1,700 homes on brownfield land and a quarter can be built on sites publicly owned, it has been claimed.

London-based surveyors Daniel Watney used data from the Office for National Statistics to single out 36 locations across the city suitable for housing, and said 12 were owned by public bodies. The list includes St Aldate’s police station and even County Hall – the home of Oxfordshire County Council.

It is the latest in a series of claims about how much brownfield land lies within the city. Oxford City Council is under pressure to deliver 28,000 homes by 2031, with about 20,000 still unaccounted for, and has called for a Green Belt review.

But critics have said it must first build more within its own boundaries, with neighbouring district councils reluctant to offer up sites within their own boundaries.

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John Harding, senior partner at Daniel Watney, said: “With efficiency drives under way across the public sector, the scope to reuse sites previously owned by the public sector is huge.

“Brownfield land has long been prioritised for development and where sites can be supported by existing infrastructure it surely makes sense to bring them forward quickly.”

Mr Harding said the amount of brownfield land possessed by local authorities in England was “a highly significant figure”, but admitted brownfield development was often far more costly than greenfield development.

Oxford City Council deputy leader Ed Turner said the claims in fact backed the case for further expansion of Oxford.

He said: “One of the problems with these types of surveys is that they can include all sorts of definitions for what brownfield land is.

“The fact that this report is including sites such as County Hall shows the limits of how far you can go with these desktop surveys.

“What this really shows is that even when you include sites like that, you only meet a fraction of Oxford’s housing need.”

Yesterday it was claimed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England that there was no need whatsoever to build on any Green Belt land to meet the UK’s housing needs for at least four years.

In Oxford, the organisation said there were 58 “previously developed” sites in Oxford suitable for housing, but did not elaborate on where they were.

Oxfordshire director Helen Marshall said: “It is clear more could be done within Oxford’s boundaries, before we think about sacrificing our Green Belt.”

Identified sites

Brownfield sites identified by the ONS and number of potential houses Data from 2012
Oxpens Road site (240)
Wolvercote paper mill site, Mill Road (200)
Westgate Shopping Centre (127)
Former oil depot, Railway Lane (85)
Cowley Marsh depot site, Marsh Road (75)
Scrapyard in Jackdaw Lane (70)
Oxford Railway Station and car park (70)
County Hall, New Road (65)
Travis Perkins site, Chapel St (57)
Castle Mill boatyard land, St Barnabas Street (54)
Ferry Pool car park, Diamond Place (50)
Northfield School, Kestrel Crescent (50)
Templars Square and car park, BetweenTowns Road (50)
Between Towns Road (45)
Blackbird Leys regeneration zone, Blackbird Leys Road (42)
Rewley Road Fire Station (40)
City Of Oxford College, Oxpens Road (40)
Shops on Hythe Bridge Street and Park End Street (38)
Northfield House, Sandy Lane (35)
St Aldate’s police station and land behind it (30)
Speedwell Street telephone exchange (27)
Nursery and Osney Warehouse, Osney Lane (25)
Hernes House, Hernes Crescent (24)
Elsfield Hall, Elsfield Way (24)
Lawn Upton House, Sandford Road (23)
Macclesfield House, New Road (23)
Area west of St Aldate’s and south Of Queen Street (20)
Garages near Warren Crescent (18)
Worcester Street car park (18)
Marywood Wood Farm Health Centre, Leiden Road (18)
Suffolk House, Banbury Road (15)
BMW garage site, Banbury Road (10)
Cooper Callas, Paradise Street (10)
Land behind 274 and 276 Woodstock Road (9)
312 London Road (9)
10 Stephen Road (8)

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