HOMEOWNER Steve Nicholls was stunned to learn a house would be built behind his garden fence because council chiefs stopped sending out letters to tell neighbours of new planning applications.

The 51-year-old did not know a planning application had been submitted in February for a two-storey house with a double garage yards from his home in Warborough Court, Kidlington.

Cherwell District Council earlier this year stopped sending letters to homes near application sites to let them know plans had been submitted and how to give views to the council.

The policy, which bosses say will save £80,000 a year, has also been adopted by Oxford City Council.

Officers gave permission for the 7.3m-high, chalet-style property earlier this month.

Last year, neighbours wrote in to object to a similar planning application to demolish a 1960s bungalow in Woodlands, Kidlington, and build a new house. It was turned down in September.

Mr Nicholls, who lives in the house with his wife Ursula, said: “The first I knew was when a neighbour knocked on my door and asked me if I knew the new house had been granted planning permission.

“When I asked the council why we had not been told, they said they did not notify everybody anymore.”

The heating engineer said: “It is going to affect my sunlight, and my general view from the house. There will be three great big dormer windows looking out over us.”

He added: “None of us knew anything about it at all until it was too late.”

The council has said application notices will still be placed on lampposts.

But Mr Nicholls said because the application site was behind his property on a small cul-de-sac, he had no reason to see planning permission notices tied to lampposts there.

He warned hundreds of other resi-dents could face the same problem.

Council spokesman Tony Ecclestone said residents can view applications online.

He said: “The changes reflect improvements made to information on the council’s website where planning applications are publicised, and will save money at a time when the council has to make significant reductions in its budget.”

He added: “Those who do not have an Internet connection can access the information at one of the council’s LinkPoint offices.”

The applicant’s agent, JPPC, did not comment on the issue.

The council is also now only advertising applications it is legally obliged to in newspapers, such as major schemes or plans for listed buildings.

The Oxford Mail last month reported that Oxford City Council would stop sending out letters from April 1 to save £45,000 a year.

The council, which sent out 17,753 in 2010, said applications could be viewed online.

But Friends of Old Headington conservation group chairman Sarah King warned: “There is an assumption nowadays that everyone is capable of going on the Internet and they spend all their time on it and they spot everything.

“Thousands of people do not do that.”