A PLAN to build 140 homes on a field near Bicester Village shopping centre will be decided this week.

Leda Properties wants to build flats and houses off Talisman Road, next to London Road and south of Talisman Business Centre. Forty per cent would be affordable.

A Cherwell District Council planning officer has recommended councillors approve the scheme on Thursday and the Environment Agency has downgraded its warning over fears of flooding.

Warehouse, superstore and petrol station plans for the site were rejected in the mid-1980s.

Bicester Village, a Tesco store and the A41 Bicester by-pass have all been constructed since.

The site would be linked to Bicester Village via footpaths.

But Bicester Town Council said it “objects very strongly” to the plan.

In a statement, it said: “The previous application was objected to on the grounds that the access is unacceptable and dangerous.

“In the council’s opinion this remains the same. Bicester Town Council would also prefer to see this site as business use.”

Bicester Mayor Richard Mould said: “It’s unnecessary and the land is better used for industry.”

And two of the four town representatives on Oxfordshire County Council, Michael Waine and Charles Shouler, also objected.

They said the site should be used for business and Bicester had enough homes with future developments, including an eco town to the north west of the town.

In a statement, they warned: “Bicester continues to have too much out-commuting and the release of this site for residential (use) will make the matter worse.”

The Environment Agency initially called for the scheme to be rejected on flooding grounds but backed it after a revised flood-risk assessment.

Yet it “remains concerned about the feasibility of providing sustainable drainage systems”.

Space to take severe flood waters would be created at nearby Langford Park Farm.

A council officer said the “relationship between the A41 embankment and the proposed dwellings needs to be very carefully considered”.

He said: “Although greenfield and likely to be considered outside the built up limits of Bicester, it is within the perimeter road system and is in close proximity to the town centre, railway and employment uses etc.

“Development of this land has not been considered in the past because of the potential for flooding.

“Careful assessment will be needed to determine the degree of harm on the countryside, landscape and natural resources and to consider this against the advantages of delivering housing.”

He concluded: “It will not cause significant harm to the visual amenities of the locality.”

The planning committee meets at 4pm at Bodicote House, Bodicote, Banbury. The public is welcome to attend.