PLANS that villagers fear will turn Adderbury into a town must be refused on Thursday, February 23, a council officer has said.

Cherwell District Council planning officer Caroline Roche said the proposal for 65 homes and a sports pitch on farmland in Milton Road will intrude into the countryside.

More than 200 letters have been written in opposition to the plan, which developers said should be allowed as council bosses have failed to meet housing targets.

A letter signed by residents and Adderbury Conservation Action Group says the site is too big and outside the built up limits of the village. Education bosses and residents said children would have to go to school elsewhere as Christopher Rawlins Primary does not have enough places.

Former Canary Wharf Group chairman and villager Sir Martin Jacomb wrote: “It is outside the village envelope and would be a significant step towards transforming the village into a town.”

This concern was shared by many letters, Miss Roche’s report says.

Adderbury Parish Council said the village has already had 100 new homes and the proposed use of 26 out of 65 as affordable was “excessive”.