Doctors in talks with landowners over a new surgery in a contentious housing development near Banbury

Cropredy villagers packed the Methodist Chapel on Monday evening to hear, and question, surgery staff, landowner Brasenose College and development promoter Obsidian.

The meeting was being held to discuss the possibility of including a new surgery in the outline planning application for 60 homes on the five hectare site, between Keytes Close and the marina. An outline application has been lodged with Cherwell District Council (CD), see story here.

Dr Tom Holyoake said the patient list had reached maximum point but limited facilities were preventing further growth. He said it needed to explore the opportunities of having new premises.

The meeting was told planning officers needed sufficient information about any such plan for a community facility before they could make a recommendation on the building of the homes.

Cropredy Parish Council chairman Tania Johnson reminded villagers that 97 per cent of those who responded to a survey three years ago said the surgery was important to them. She said the planning application needs some detail of a proposed new surgery or it might be approved without one.

She promised to take the community’s views to Cherwell District Council when it decided the issue and urged them to give their views via the CDC portal.

Villagers appeared in favour of a new surgery but wanted a solution to be found that did not depend on construction of a new estate.

One resident said after the meeting: “The villagers have much sympathy for the surgery but little for the developers. CDC has a policy of 30 dwellings per hectare at the moment. This application is for 60 homes on five hectares; there is nothing stopping CDC increasing the density after planning is granted, so could have agreement for 150 houses without trying.”

He said the developers offered a covenant to ensure limits on building but there were fears this could be withdrawn at any time.

“I think the surgery will do what it has to, to stay afloat. I would hope the meeting mobilises the village to help the surgery in any way it can without having to sell out to this developer, even if it means a crazy amount of fundraising and a good dose of lateral thinking.

"It doesn't have enough treatment rooms so cannot accommodate the number of patients it needs to, in order to maintain its list which is growing – and the worry is that the business will be less viable if it can't grow, while the ground rent and costs go up. “Obsidian can't promise a surgery or the size of one. Brasenose said they will help in some small way but couldn't say what – and they wouldn't gift the land even at low grade agricultural value.

“This issue of the surgery is a red herring, it is being used as a pawn to garner support for development no-one wants or needs.”

Another villager said: “Obsidian tried a lot of smoke and mirrors with no clarification or context. They are using the surgery to frighten people into saying yes. The development is flawed for many reasons and it should not just be about the surgery.”