Next garden city Bicester in line for new station and 13,000 new homes

A new garden city is to be built in Oxfordshire as part of the Coalition's plans to deal with the housing shortage, Nick Clegg has confirmed.

Bicester has been chosen as the site for the new community, which will have up to 13,000 new homes.

The proposals will be outlined in the National Infrastructure Plan being published tomorrow when ministers are also set to announce a range of other housing measures.

Earlier this year, the Government announced that Ebbsfleet in Kent had been picked to become the first modern garden city.

Bicester expressed an interest in following suit and is in line for a new railway station to serve the expanded population as part of rail plans previously announced by the Deputy Prime Minister.

Mr Clegg told the Daily Telegraph:

And he said:

Under the garden city initiative, a series of new communities with green spaces, sustainable transport and spacious homes will be built.

Mr Clegg has previously claimed the Conservatives "held back the development of garden cities on the scale necessary" and promised at least ten will be created if the Liberal Democrats are part of the next government.