Almost 200 new homes will be built on the site of an Oxford timber merchant after a multi-million pound deal was secured with a developer. Timbmet will move most of its operation from its base at Cumnor Hill to a new facility at Stanford in the Vale by the beginning of next year. The deal with an unnamed housebuilder will be worth more than £20m which breaks down to a figure in excess of £2m an acre on the site. Plans for the move, that will result in 192 houses being built, were initially floated about five years ago. But it is only now that planning permission has finally been secured along with suitable alternative premises for the company. The scheme has caused controversy among local residents after being given the green light last year by the planning inspector along with 150 homes on Tilbury Lane off Eynsham Road and 130 on land south of Lime Road. However, residents fear local facilities, such as GPs, shops and bus services, will be swamped, coupled with a major increase in an already heavily congested area due to the density of the housing. Dr Philip Hawtin, chairman of Cumnor Parish Council, said: "We accept the site could sensibly be used for houses but we think the density of the development is entirely inappropriate. "We don't think the local services are sufficiently large enough to be able to accommodate these new developments and the views of the local people don't appear to have featured very highly with the developers. "They have to be taken into account as we want the new residents to be as happy as the existing ones." The new homes will range between two and five bedrooms with 40 per cent of them to be designated as 'affordable housing'. John Dobson, financial director of Timbmet Silverman, said: "We knew the site was valuable and we've been able to realise its full potential and move to purpose-built premises." A total of 97 workers will be asked to locate to the new premises although the headquarters building where 100 further staff are based will remain on the current site, separate from the housing. Chris Wilmshurst, partner at Oxford agents Kemp & Kemp which has handled the deal, said: "It is genuinely an exceptional site for Oxford, in such a good location." Mr Wilmshurst added that although he could not reveal the identity of the developer, it was "one of the biggest national housebuilders."