Protesters trying to stop 1,000 homes being built on the outskirts of Banbury say the site was chosen before important questions were answered.

Bob Madge, chairman of the Cherwell Heights Housing Action group, is challenging Cherwell District Council to explain how the Bodicote and Bankside site was selected before planners obtained information on flooding risks, transport, and the environment.

In an open letter he said: "It is clear that despite 10,000 objections to the plan at the first public consultation, the council still intends to build 1,000 new homes on a greenfield site in Bodicote parish.

"The council has chosen the site without knowing the traffic impact, how pedestrians and traffic will mix, what damage will be done to the environment, and how it will affect flooding."

But Fred Blackwell, Cherwell's executive member for development, said the site had to be earmarked before planning permission was sought.

He said: "All the issues will be taken into account when planning permission is applied for -- and that is still some years away."

Mr Blackwell added: "A case will have to be made for the development of the site, but most people accept that at least 50 percent of the new houses planned are needed for local people -- the 15- to 16-year-olds who, in a few years time, will want homes."

The Cherwell Local Plan is a blueprint for development in north Oxfordshire until 2011. The second public consultation period ends on October 25.