HUNDREDS of new homes are set to come to the Wantage area if the latest plans for development are approved, leaving locals fearing for the town’s infrastructure.

With major development ongoing at the Crab Hill and Wellington Gate sites, permission is being sought for hundreds of new properties in the area.

Final approval is being sought for 369 homes in three separate applications at Wellington Gate, a further 174 at Crab Hill’s 'Centre West' site, north of the A417, while at Grove's Station Road, developers are hoping to get final approval for homes.

A new application for a 65 bed care home on Grove Road has recently been submitted, with a number of smaller applications also awaiting approval.

Last week, papers from the Local Plan showed 400 homes were planned for Grove.

However, an application for 88 homes near East Challow was recently turned down, though developers did not immediately rule out appealing the decision when asked.

Wantage and Grove County Councillor Jenny Hannaby said: “There is too much development which is unsustainable.

“We just have not got the infrastructure.

“We have inadequate roads, we haven’t got the health services to cope and our schools are full.”

Mrs Hannaby said it was a shame that more sites earmarked for development were not employment projects and that minimal progress seemed to be being made on Grove station and other local transport projects.

Fellow division councillor Jane Hanna added: “Wantage and Grove is already expected to cope with 4,500 houses in the next 10 years, yet another 400 [in the Local Plan] is simply not acceptable to the local population.

"The Conservatives promised to reduce house building numbers in 2013 but we are now facing more and more. Where are the necessary roads, schools, local jobs and rail station for the commuters?”

Wantage and Grove Campaign Group's Julie Mabberley also has serious concerns about infrastructure, particularly parking.

She added: “Sales seem quite slow - Grove Airfield have sold about 10 homes and its around the same number on Crab Hill.

“Given that the two sites will be around 4,000 houses, we could be living in a building site for a very long time.

"That means lots of earth moving, lots of mud on the road, lots of dust in the air in summer for years."