DEVELOPERS of a planned 185-home estate in Witney have been told to redesign the scheme after worries about parked cars blocking roads.

The estate, on the former Buttercross Works and Pine Lodge in Station Lane, would include 105 terraced homes and a block of 80 flats for the elderly.

The land is the last major housing site in the centre of Witney.

But, under the current design, many residents will not have parking spaces outside their homes and will have to park in large parking areas across the estate.

At a meeting on Monday, West Oxfordshire District Council members argued people with heavy bags or children would choose to park outside their homes and block the road.

Wiltshire-based property developers Bower Mapson agreed to redesign the scheme and the planning application is now likely to be reconsidered next month.

Councillor Barry Norton said: “People will not park away from their homes, they will park where they can see their car so it is not vandalised. That is a fact of life.

“If we can do more work on parking areas to try to improve them we can move the scheme forward.”

Councillor Henry Howard said a similar parking design in Carterton’s Shilton Park had caused “major problems”.

He said: “People do what they want to do. They want to park either in a garage close by or where they can see their car from their living room window.”

Councillor Peter Handley added: “Seventy per cent of the parking is nowhere near to the houses. I would like to see it the other way around.”

But other concerns about the scheme were outweighed by its need, councillors said, and they backed the plans in principle.

Councillor Richard Langridge said: “This scheme is much needed.

“Normally we would be asking for contributions, which would clearly be incredibly valuable, but because of the benefits we should be able to forego them.”

Designer Peter Mapson said he was “very confident” the parking issues could be resolved.

He said a one-way section through the estate maybe scrapped to create parking spaces closer to homes.