AN ACTION group with more than 1,000 supporters has urged the leader of Witney Town Council to ‘consider his position’ after he was accused of misleading his councillors.

Stuart Harrison, of North Witney Action Group (NWAG), said Toby Morris misinformed the council before it entered a formal submission on a district-wide planning document that could change the face of Witney.

Mr Morris, who is also the deputy leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said his position has always been clear, and suggested the confusion could be the result of an error in the minutes.

However, Mr Harrison says the matter is 'alarming' and has called for Mr Morris to explain.

In October last year, WODC voted to approve its amended Local Plan for consultation, a document which allocated 5,000 extra homes for the district, bringing the total to be built by 2031 to 16,000.

The amended plan angered many residents in Witney, which saw the number of proposed homes in the north of the town increased from 1,000 to 1,400, despite staunch objection from many in the community.

In December Mr Morris, who has often expressed concerns over the north Witney site, is recorded as saying the development of north Witney was something that the planning inspector had asked for, during a town council discussion on its response to the plan.

Mr Harrison, of NWAG, which has campaigned against increased development in north Witney, has challenged Mr Morris on this comment, insisting it was false and suggesting it could have changed the council’s stance on the matter.

The group claims the site in north Witney is plagued by issues around flooding, traffic, environment and infrastructure.

Mr Harrison said: “The inspector, Simon Emerson, sitting in November 2015, unequivocally spelt out that he was at that point dealing with overall numbers and would not allow any comments or submission on specific sites.

“If Mr Morris, as the local representative, had attended one minute of the four day hearing he would have known that. If these weren’t Mr Morris’s words, then he had ample time to say so when the minutes were approved at the town council meeting of February 1, at which he was present.

“We observe the town council has moved from opposing the inclusion of north Witney in the Local Plan to a neutral position. In their 2014 submission to WODC they called the site ‘an isolated development’.

“Alarmingly we have to assume that their position has been influenced by the leader of the town council, who is also deputy leader of WODC, offering misinformation.”

Responding to Mr Harrison's allegations, Mr Morris said he would not reconsider his position.

The councillor said his stance on north Witney has always been clear and said he would recheck the minutes of the December meeting for the possibility of a comment stripped of its context.

He said: "I must admit when I read the minutes I didn't notice the context was wrong. I said the inspector had asked for further information on north Witney and hadn't asked for the site to be removed.

"I believe all councillors on Witney Town Council and West Oxfordshire District Council know my views and I would not have said anything that I believe to be untrue.

"Throughout the whole process I have never said I don't have significant concerns about the site but West Oxfordshire District Council needed a Local Plan in place.

"Changing the plan would have meant starting the whole process again and that would take years, leaving West Oxfordshire open to massive speculative development."

Mr Morris added that he thought the town council's submission on the Local Plan, prepared by the chairman of the planning committee, Alan Beames, was not strong enough in its concerns over the north Witney site.