RESIDENTS are “relieved and delighted” that plans that threatened green space outside their homes have been withdrawn.

People in Derwent Road and Dryden Avenue, in Bicester, launched a campaign to protect green spaces in town in response to plans to build three maisonettes on the open space.

Applicant Ridgestone Development Ltd has since withdrawn the scheme which was recommended for refusal at the Cherwell District Council planning meeting on Thursday.

Derwent Green Residents Group chairman, Stephen Rand, said: “We think this indicates a real intention to protect the small green spaces within Bicester. So we will press on with our campaign to see all of these on the Greenwood Estate adopted as local green spaces.”

The residents’ campaign, Save Our Local Green Spaces, raised concerns that the town’s green spaces were being infilled by development – despite its bid to become a Garden City.

The group felt by approving this development – on land they say has been used for more than 30 years by the public – it could set a precedent for future applications.

One of the partners of developers Ridgestone Development Ltd Mustab Ahmed said: “We are currently getting legal advice and hopefully we can work with residents – who we have already been in touch with such as the Derwent Green Residents Group.”