RESIDENTS have hit out at developers who stuck an extra storey on a planned care home between the public exhibition and the planning application.

Luxury care home company Baycroft and developer Frontier exhibited plans to build a two-storey building on a green field east of Grove Road, Wantage, in February.

Now the firms have submitted a planning application to build two three-storey blocks on the site, containing 50 extra-car apartments and a 70-bed care home.

Terry Knight, who lives next door to the field, said: “Two storeys was high but with three storeys it’s going to be impossible to screen off with a hedge so we’ll lose our skyline and our privacy.”

Wantage and Grove Campaign Group for sustainable development (WAGCG) also objected.

Manager Julie Mabberley said: “The original plan for a tasteful, two-storey structure tucked away beneath the summit of Crab Hill... has been ditched in favour of a three-storey (12 metre high) development with very private gardens.”

In their planning application the companies said: “The proposed layout is a result of an iterative process and review from the initial concept through to detailed design. It has been designed to minimise the impact of the proposal on the surrounding and still creating large amounts of outdoor space.”

See whitehorsedc.gov.uk