Cherwell Council rejects development of 70 houses (From Oxford Mail)

Cherwell Council rejects development of 70 houses

10:30am Saturday 18th August 2012 in Banbury

COUNCILLORS have thrown out a plan for 70 homes in Hook Norton, but approved a smaller scheme.

Cherwell District Council rejected the Taylor Wimpey scheme for 70 homes in a field north of The Bourne on Thursday.

But it approved plans for 28 houses at the site of DJ Stanton engineering building in Station Road.

Officers recommended planning committee members approve both.

Barry Wood – also council leader – said rural plans must be thrown out even though the council is not meeting Government housing targets.This has seen developers argue for homes on rural sites as major schemes backed by the council are not being built.

He said: “Somebody has to put their heels in and say ‘no more here’.

“In my view, if you do not trap the mice they will simply multiply.”

Hook Norton district councillor Victoria Irvine told members there was a “real danger” to other villages if the plan went through.

She said: “Villages should not have housing development put on them.”

But Kathryn Ventham, for Taylor Wimpey, said its planned 21 affordable homes were needed.

Some 316 people objected to the Taylor Wimpey scheme, with concerns about its impact on school class sizes, roads and wildlife. Just six opposed the DJ Stanton plan.

Hook Norton Parish Council chairman David Shepley-Cuthbert said: “It is the best result in the circumstances. Cherwell District Council needs a pat on the back for sticking to their guns and saying it’s not meant to be like this.”