A HOUSING developer is attempting to build 230 homes on a field where villagers have specifically said development would harm the parish.

Cheshire-based Gladman Developments is seeking permission to build the estate on a 12-hectare field in Chalgrove, South Oxfordshire.

That is despite the fact that the draft Chalgrove Neighbourhood Plan, drawn up by villagers, has specifically said that site should not be developed, and recommended another site to the west of the village for new housing.

The issue is complicated by the fact the field in question is immediately next to Chalgrove Airfield, where South Oxfordshire District Council has said it would like to site 3,000 new homes – a proposal not included in the neighbourhood plan.

In its planning application, Gladman repeatedly references the airfield proposal, with maps showing how its own proposed estate would be a relatively minor extension to that development.

The company also mentioned the fact villagers ruled the site out for housing in the neighbourhood plan, but did not explicitly explain why it thinks the council should disregard the wish.

Created under the 2011 Localism Act, neighbourhood plans are designed to give residents a chance to say where housing should and should not be built in their parish, and when adopted – which Chalgrove's has not yet been – become an official part of local planning regulations.

See the application online at southoxon.gov.uk using reference number P17/S3466/SCR