A planned market town consisting of 3,000 homes next to an airfield should not be built, South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils have said.

Government agency Homes England owns Chalgrove Airfield in Chalgrove, a former Ministry of Defence site.

A plan laid out by South Oxfordshire (SODC) and Vale of White Horse District Councils suggests the project is “unsuitable for development” and should be scrapped. 

Both councils are now under Liberal Democrat control, with a new Local Plan being developed to replace the former Conservative plan, which was pushed through SODC in 2020.

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In 2020, South Oxfordshire District Council was told by the Government to pass its current Local Plan for development until 2035, including the airfield project and thousands of other new homes, or face intervention. 

Concerns about the overall development and the proximity to the airfield’s runway were previously raised by the Civil Aviation Authority and nearby residents.

The two district councils said these concerns led Homes England to withdraw its planning application in May 2021 after it had been submitted to SODC in June 2020.

The site is currently occupied by defence export business, Martin Baker – the leading provider of ejector seats to UK armed forces and allied nations.

Both district councils have said the planned 3,000 homes would not fit on Homes England’s current site. 

The councils added that the airfield project is “not a good fit” with any of their current or potential planning policies, which centre on an intention to build on “well-located brownfield sites” or on current sites that would serve unmet demand from Oxford. 

In March, Homes England said it was “still continuing to work on a revised scheme” but has since issued no further update online.

Freddie van Mierlo, Oxfordshire County Councillor for Chalgrove and Watlington has welcomed the proposed removal of Chalgrove Airfield as a housing site.

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Mr van Mierlo said: “The development of Chalgrove Airfield would be deeply damaging. 

"It would create a town the size of Thame or Henley in the middle of the Oxfordshire countryside, with no suitable transport infrastructure. Residents have long known that delivering housing on this site is not possible.

“In addition, it would threaten the operations of a hugely successful British exporter of defence equipment, vital to UK armed forces and allies around the world.

"This is not a derelict brownfield site, it is an active airfield, important to the local economy and to our forces.”

A public consultation on the matter is scheduled to take place in January and February next year.