PLANS have been unveiled for 21,000 new homes to be built across South Oxfordshire by 2033 along with a package of major transport improvements.

The proposals, exclusively revealed by the Oxford Mail, include more than 8,500 homes at ‘strategic sites’ in Culham, Chalgrove and Berinsfield, 1,350 in Wallingford, Thame and Henley, 1,100 in larger villages and 500 in smaller ones, with 9,369 already in the pipeline - mostly in Didcot.

They are due to be published today as part of South Oxfordshire District Council’s latest draft Local Plan, the blueprint for development in the area.

The document also says it will provide about 3,750 homes to help tackle Oxford’s housing crisis – fewer than the 4,950 share other authorities have called on it to deliver.

Council leader John Cotton said a key part of the new plan was making sure housing developments were accompanied by new roads, schools and other infrastructure.

Transport schemes include a new £100m bridge over the River Thames to link Didcot and Culham, the Didcot Northern Perimeter Road, bypasses at Clifton Hampden, Stadhampton, Watlington and Benson, as well as improvements to Culham and Didcot railway stations.

Mr Cotton said: "This plan will deliver much-needed housing in our district and help surrounding areas such as Oxford.

"But we understand that in the past delivering infrastructure has been a problem and this plan deals with that issue head-on.

"We have never put forward anything as ambitious as what is proposed here and I am confident it can all be delivered.

"That is not to say there won’t be tough negotiations ahead – but no one should underestimate our resolve to get this done."

The new Local Plan increases the overall number of new homes proposed over the next 15 years from 17,370 to 20,821.

In comparison, Government figures show that the council delivered just 4,410 homes from 2001-2016.

Mr Cotton said the increased number was because the authority had previously been caught out by so-called ‘five year land supply’ rules. These allow developers to propose building on sites that are not in the Local Plan if the council cannot demonstrate that enough homes are being built each year.

To ensure enough will be built this time, it has included three strategic sites in its new draft Local Plan. There are 3,500 homes proposed at Culham, 3,000 at Chalgrove Airfield and 2,100 at Berinsfield. This would also involve taking both Berinsfield and Culham out of the Green Belt, which is protected from large-scale development.

Berinsfield has also recently won £1m for a regeneration scheme, with Culham seen as an ideal site for housing because it is next to a railway station and the Culham Science Centre, a major employment site.

Network Rail plans to extend platforms at the railway station as part of a wider scheme to electrify the Great Western rail line.

But the homes at Culham would be capped at 750 until plans for a new Thames bridge nearby were fully funded, Mr Cotton revealed.

Meanwhile, as expected, the district council has also rejected plans for 3,500-home ‘science village’ south of Oxford at Grenoble Road.

These were put forward jointly by landowners Magdalen College, Thames Water and Oxford City Council. All three argue it is an ‘exceptionally sustainable site’.

Mr Cotton dismissed this claim, adding: “It is a very poor site. It is right next to a sewage plant and there are electricity pylons running through it – I cannot think of a more unpleasant place to put housing.

“In planning terms it is a long, long way down our list.”

He admitted the developers could still seek to get the scheme included when the draft Local Plan is examined by a planning inspector, but said: “It is for them to make that case.”

The district council is also likely to face strong opposition to plans to develop Chalgrove Airfield. The site, formerly owned by the Ministry of Defence, is being championed by the Government-owned Homes and Communities Agency.

But it is opposed by many villagers from Chalgrove, including the parish council, and Oxfordshire County Council previously warned it could cause ‘severe’ traffic problems for local roads.

The Homes and Communities Agency claims any traffic impact can be reduced by public transport schemes.