LONG-RUNNING plans to build 2,500 homes on Grove Airfield are expected to take a major step forward later this year.

Negotiations about the 10-year long plans to build on the site west of Grove are being finalised.

Vale of White Horse District Council leader Matthew Barber said it hopes to make a planning decision in the autumn.

An outline planning application for the development was submitted in February last year by developers Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey.

The 2,500 homes would almost double the 3,000 currently in Grove.

Delays were partly caused by negotiations over the amount of ‘section 106’ money the developers should give the council to provide infrastructure such as roads, sewage works, and schools.

Mr Barber said: “The big issue with Grove Airfield at the moment is the 106 money. Independent auditors were looking into how much 106 money per acre the developers can genuinely afford, and I understand they have now made their recommendation.

“It has been so long but we might be at the stage that we are crossing the Ts and dotting the Is.

“Grove Airfield has been going on for 10 years so we don’t want it going on for too much longer.”

The planning application includes a new primary school, secondary school, community centre, shops and library.