HUNDREDS of RAF personnel and their families will find out next week if they will get new homes.

West Oxfordshire District Council will decide on Monday whether more than 500 homes can be built in Carterton, close to RAF Brize Norton.

And a further application for 496 homes, in Stanmore Crescent, was submitted last week.

The first set of plans were welcomed by Carterton Town Council.

Most of the homes will be for servicemen and women moving to RAF Brize Norton from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, which is due to close in September.

There are 3,900 RAF personnel at Brize Norton already, with 2,700 more set to join them in the autumn.

Town councillor Phil Scott, who is also chairman of the chamber of trade, said: “We’re pleased that something is happening. They have known for nine years that Lyneham is coming to Brize, so it’s nice that they have got their act together and are doing something.”

Applications have so far been submitted for 225 homes by Northwood Crescent and a 312-room four-storey accommodation block within the RAF Brize Norton perimeter.

District council planning officers have recommended provisional approval of the block.

However, Thames Water, the Environment Agency and Black Bourton Parish Council have asked for more information about flooding and drainage plans for the site.

Council officers hope to obtain more details ahead of Monday’s meeting.

The Northwood Crescent site used to provide homes for married RAF personnel, but these are being demolished. Planning officers are recommending approval of the new homes.

Royal British Legion member Steve Radband, from Bampton, whose son Lance Corporal David Radband, 25, is serving in Afghanistan, said: “The old homes were an eyesore. They were damp and horrible.

“I knew people who lived there and the homes were absolutely disgusting.”

witney@oxfordmail.co.uk