Controversial plans to build homes next to the site that inspired CS Lewis to create the magical kingdom of Narnia sparked a row that has gone on for almost five years in Oxford and caused an outcry nationally and internationally.

Now the application to build nine flats with 22 parking spaces and an access road alongside the CS Lewis Nature Reserve in Risinghurst has been withdrawn.

But campaigners only cautiously welcomed news that charitable trust the Wychwood Foundation had dropped proposals, which had been recommended for refusal, shortly before the city council’s east area planning committee meeting.

Leading opponent Cara Langford, who grew up in Risinghurst, collected almost 6,000 signatories for one petition and through an associate in the US nearly 2,000 for another.

She said: “Whilst this is fantastic news we still do not know the reasons why the application was withdrawn and there is nothing stopping another planning application being submitted.

But she added: “I am so grateful to the 5,964 people who signed the 38 Degrees petition and the almost 1,979 who signed the Change petition.

“I hadn’t anticipated the national let alone international interest. Many people were contacting me across the world as they were unable to sign my petition. The number of comments and objections recorded against the application on the city council website was unprecedented. If I recall, it even stopped working at one point!”

She said: “I spent my childhood playing in the CS Lewis reserve and now bring my own children there to explore the wonders it holds. It truly is a magical place and CS Lewis based his writings about Narnia on it – although back then it was his back garden!”

The celebrated author is said to have wandered in the tranquil woodland with a large pond, now managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, while writing his children’s book series which includes The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Oxford City Council planners described the proposals as “unacceptable” on the “rural fringes of Oxford” - and local councillor Glynis Phillips was grateful.

“The planning officers’ recommendation to oppose the planning application was couched in the strongest terms. I was very relieved that this precious green space and the access roads to the proposed development will remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.”

The proposed plans also required an access road to be built directly across from CS Lewis’s beloved former home The Kilns. The blue plaque property, used by scholars and clergy, is run by the CS Lewis Foundation, which also presented a petition. Director of the study centre Tyson Rallens said: “The project would have been detrimental on numerous levels to the historic and natural treasures we are trying to preserve.”

Meanwhile Douglas Gresham, whose mother, the poet Joy Davidman, was married to Lewis, declared: “This should not be allowed to happen… it would destroy... what for many is a holy retreat for the sake of a profit grab idea.” The Wychwood Foundation could not be contacted.