TIME is running out to comment on plans by a Chinese university to build a major campus – including a lecture theatre, gymnasium and rooms for almost 100 students – just outside Oxford.

The former Open University site at Boars Hill was sold a year ago to Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS), which intends to make the 15-acre plot its first base in the UK.

A formal planning application was submitted in August to Vale of White Horse District Council, with the last chance to comment on the plans Monday.

But some residents fear the ‘scale and intensity’ of plans for the Foxcombe Hall estate would create problems for those who live nearby.

A consultation meeting for residents in January was attended by around a 100 people. Since that session, the Friends of Boars Hill group has been campaigning against the scheme.

On the group's website the claim the university's plan to 'extensively' develop the site 'exploiting the Oxford name' by creating a 'significant commercial venture' in the village.

They added: "The character of the Hill would be fundamentally changed if this development takes place.

"We believe that we must act proactively to protect the Green Belt and the local environment for the future as those before have done for us.

"Our aim above all, is for Boars Hill to remain a tranquil rural Oxford community.

Speaking when the original screening opinion was submitted in May, Prof Guy Liu from PHBS said the university and villagers shared 'a common community spirit'. He added: "We fully understand and appreciate that our community’s interests and concerns may differ. As a new comer to the area, we fully respect and welcome the views of many and we strive to address these differences of opinion and concerns."

To comment on the application visit whitehorsedc.gov.uk.