RESIDENTS fear a new housing project would ‘literally rip out the heart’ of a West Oxfordshire village if it given the go-ahead later this month.

Developers SCC Curbridge LLP want to build a 85 homes in Curbridge, south of Witney, vastly increasing its population.

One of the men behind SCC Curbridge LLP, Rock Feilding-Mellen, is a former deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea council and was responsible for work on Grenfell Tower.

A Curbridge resident said there was insufficient space for new homes being built around the village and that others would only exacerbate the problem.

She said: “This development will literally rip the heart out of our village and essentially make it an extension of Witney with the local over development of our rural Cotswold area.”

She added: “There is a ridiculous amount of new homes being built within a three-mile radius and there are not the local facilities to cope with an influx of new residents on this scale.

“We will no longer be a village, which is why most of us chose to live here. The recent addition of brown brick dwellings is ruining the traditional Cotswold style of the area.”

Curbridge and Lewis Parish Council also object ‘most strongly’ to the application, ‘in accordance with the wishes of the vast majority of residents’.

It said the planned development ‘fails’ in maintaining scenic beauty in Curbridge.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England said the allocation of 85 homes on the one site would be too many as ‘windfall’ for homes not included in West Oxfordshire District Council’s Local Plan. That was passed by Government inspectors earlier this week.

SCC Curbridge LLP claims that its project would ‘create a sympathetic residential infill development, making the best use of the existing land and enhancing open access, open space, biodiversity and community facilities across one of [West Oxfordshire’s] villages.’

It is understood Mr Feilding-Mellen grew up in Oxfordshire, living at Beckley Park, near Beckley.

No date has been set for when the application for outline permission will be heard.

To see the planning application visit the council's online planning portal and search 18/01724/OUT.