Major plans for 540 new homes to the north of Oxford will be decided next week.

Merton College want to build the houses on an area of farmland the size of 82 football pitches to the west and north of Yarnton village.

It has also proposed to build a community work hub, two playing pitches, and up to 9,000sqm of elderly and extra care residential floorspace.

READ MORE: Plans for 160 new homes in Oxfordshire village criticised

Cherwell District Council’s planning committee will decide on the application at a meeting on Thursday (November 2).

Council officers have recommended that the plans are refused until they can resolve “outstanding issues”.

Villagers have raised concerns that the homes would “destroy the character of Yarnton” and impact transport infrastructure into Oxford.

Both Yarnton and Begbroke parish councils have formally objected to the plans.

Merton College, one of the constituent colleges of Oxford University, said: “Our proposals align with Cherwell’s Local Plan allocation and will deliver much-needed new homes as part of the county-wide strategy to accommodate Oxford’s unmet housing need."

The application site is allocated for development in the Cherwell Local Plan.

It is part of the land surrounding Kidlington, Yarnton and Begbroke which the council controversially allocated for 4,400 new homes in 2020 to help meet Oxford’s housing needs.

Earlier this month, almost 500 new homes in Kidlington were approved by the council despite fierce opposition from councillors and campaign groups.