RESIDENTS have described revised plans for a controversial housing project in Kidlington as “tinkering” and “designed to make a lot of money for the developers”.

The new application to build 54 apartments in High Street has been submitted to Cherwell District Council, but villagers say more changes need to be made.

The proposal by Cantay Estates Ltd is to reduce the size of the Co-op by two thirds to make way for the new flats – reduced from 56 in the original application – and 60 parking spaces.

Alan Lodwick, a member of Kidlington Development Watch, praised the revisions but said more needed to be done.

The Church Street resident said: “They need to reduce the number of flats by quite a lot more than they have done.

“It is just tinkering even though they have made many changes to the original plan.

“People walk through the car park to get to the Oxford Road but they will not be able to in future.

“This site is an opportunity to improve the centre of Kidlington but what they are designing seems only to make a lot of money for the developers.”

He added that a “masterplan” for the village should be produced by the parish and district councils to plan future developments and help prevent similar controversies.

Residents complained that the proposals would mean a significant loss of retail floor space in Kidlington, and that the red brick colours were out of keeping with other buildings in the area.

Other changes include introducing roof gardens in place of some flats on the Sterling Road side of the development, and changes to the material used on the building’s top level. The Co-op will keep its travel store and post office, and cut the number of car parking spaces from about 90 to 21.

Cantay managing director Tony Nolan said: “We have changed some of the materials used. We have removed the red brickwork and we have used new materials to lighten up the frontage.

“We have created a building of much higher quality which I hope will be well received.

“We are very pleased with the changes we have made. The public consultation was very constructive as it meant we could stand back and see what needed to be changed.”

Kidlington Parish Council chairman Maurice Billington said he had been asked by villagers whether it would be possible to hold a further consultation meeting with developers.