THE first major move in the development of Wallingford has come with a plan for 1,000 houses from Prupim, the development arm of the Prudential insurance giant.

It wants to put the houses on land it owns at Slade End Farm, land inside the Wallingford bypass but in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell parish.

The company wants talks with South Oxfordshire District Council and Wallingford Town Council, causing a split between councillors willing to talk to the developers and those saying there should be no contact until the district council produces its masterplan for the area.

Local people had mixed views on the proposals, some wanting the farmland to stay farmland, but others saying it would bring new blood into the area.

A Prupim spokesman said: “We own the land at Slade End Farm, which is currently in agricultural use.

“Prupim has not submitted a planning application, but if the site is eventually included in the district council’s local development plan, a formal planning application will follow. The site can accommodate about 1,000 houses, but the precise number and mix will be a matter for negotiation later.

“We will need to provide affordable housing to meet local needs and improved footways and cycleways will provide links with Wallingford town centre.”

The company promised “improvement and expansion of transport, education and other community facilities depending on the eventual size of the development”.

The spokesman said: “The company is committed to genuine and open consultation with site neighbours, local residents and with the wider Wallingford and Brightwell-cum-Sotwell community.”

Jean Sewell, 63, from Wantage Road, Wallingford, said: “It would be a shame to see that open space disappear under concrete. Places need green breathing spaces.”

John Howgate, 67, from the Fir Tree estate, opposite where the new houses would go, said: “All places need new blood now and again, and there is no question but that the houses are needed.

“Folk have to live somewhere and Wallingford has to take its fair share.”

One resident who didn’t want to be named said: “I have very mixed feelings about it.

“One part of me says Wallingford is a nice small town and shouldn’t change drastically, but another agrees that people have to have homes.”

The town council has already said it would accept up to 1,000 new homes on the edge of the town, but wants the land to be part of Wallingford.

It wants the boundaries changed so the land, which is on the Wallingford side of the bypass, would also be inside the town boundaries.

A planning department spokesman at the district council said: “We have not had an application, so we cannot comment on the ideas from Prupim.

“Land around Wallingford will almost certainly take some development, but we have not specified any site at this stage.”