Controversial homes plan withdrawn but fight will go on to protect villages around Banbury

The threatened site, seen from Stocking Lane. Photo: Google Street View.

A bid to build 49 homes – in a move seen by opponents as risking setting a dangerous precedent for Cherwell’s smallest villages – was withdrawn the day before a decision was due to be made.

The Banbury Guardian reported last Monday that Shenington residents were planning to be out in force at the district council’s planning committee meeting on Thursday, September 8, to make their opposition crystal clear to councillors.

Other influential voices were also against the plan from Elan Homes but two days after the BG report appeared online – and a day before the meeting – Elan withdrew the application.

The application for 49 homes, including 17 affordable, was for a site with frontages on Stocking Lane and Rattlecombe Road on the edge of the village.

Cherwell’s planning officer had recommended refusal but villagers were planning to be at the meeting to see if councillors backed the officer’s view – and to be prepared if refusal would be met by an appeal against the decision by Elan.

John Woodcock, a member of the Shenington with Alkerton Action Group formed to fight the plan, told the paper last week it was at odds with the village’s category C status – and if it went ahead all similar villages, judged by Cherwell to be only suitable for infill and conversions, would be at risk.

After news broke that Elan had withdrawn the plan he vowed the fight would go on: “We expect a new tabled development plan from them at some point, this battle is certainly not over.”