Residents object to proposal of up to 30 new homes outside village near Banbury

Cherwell District Council planning committee members will decide whether or not to give outline permission to developer Deeley Homes to build the homes on the agricultural land north of Ell’s Lane and west of the A361 just outside of Bloxham.

The planning officer’s recommendation is for refusal, saying that the plans are "unacceptable in principle given its location at some distance from the village centre". The officer also notes the loss of agricultural land, the negative visual and landscape impacts on the character of the area, and the "lack of primary education capacity" as reasons why the proposal should not be given the go ahead.

The council’s planning committee has received 45 letters of objection from residents concerned with the proposal. Some of the residents concerns include the impact speeding cars, pollution, and noise will have on the village and that the village does not have the infrastructure to cope with more residents.

One objector said that: "Children in the village are being sent to other schools as our village schools are full, the GP is not taking new patients, nor is the dentist."

Bloxham Parish Council has also noted its objections, stating that: "The site is located outside the built form of the village, within an area of agricultural land and open countryside. Allowing this application would set a precedence for residential developments to the north of Ells Lane and Bloxham Grove.

"The application site, if developed, will extend the current built up limits of Banbury into open countryside.”

Developers Deeley Homes said: “The proposed development will deliver a highly sustainable residential development with positive social, economic and environmental benefits, whilst also assisting the council in boosting the supply of housing and the delivery of housing in future years.

"This must be afforded significant weight, given the current lack of housing land supply and shortfall of affordable housing. By supporting the development proposals at Ell’s Lane, this will contribute towards sustaining and increasing the vitality and viability of the local services and facilities, thus contributing towards creating and maintaining a sustainable and balanced community and promoting a strong local economy.”