District council refuses plans for up to 53 homes in village near Banbury

The development plans for the agricultural land to the north of Wimborn Close and Mackley Close in Deddington included houses and the creation of a vehicle access road.

The planning committee voted for refusal by 10 votes to nil and five abstentions at last Thursday's meeting.

Land developers Pembury Webb Estates said that the development would help meet the council’s need for housing, with at least 18 homes designated as affordable housing.

They said: "The site would deliver a range of house sizes and tenures, to be agreed. The proposals would provide a policy-compliant level of affordable housing provision at 35%."

However, Cllr Williams from Deddington Parish Council expressed his disappointment in the developer's plans not working alongside the Deddington local plan that is due to be released this week.

He said: "We are not a parish of NIMBYs, and we welcome sustainable development. As a category A village, we accept that we have the infrastructure to support more development than other parishes, but it has to be sustainable and in suitable locations, not the furthest from the village centre and its amenities, as this is."

The councillor suggested another location in the village for the proposed development, claiming that the new site would be far more suitable and would provide space for twice as many homes as the Wimborn Close proposal.

Cllr Williams stated that the current plans had around 80 letters of objection from village residents and that the parish council did not support the plans.

The council voted to refuse the current application, stating that the land in question saying : "It is outside the built form of Deddington and within an area of open countryside, which has not been allocated for development within the Cherwell Local Plan or the emerging Deddington Neighbourhood Plan."

They also refused on the grounds that devolpment would change the character and appearance of the countryside, saying: "The proposal would have a poor and incongruous relationship with the existing settlement appearing prominent in the open countryside. Its development would therefore have an adverse effect on the landscape setting of Deddington, to the detriment of the character and appearance of the countryside."