Land deal splits village

6:43am Friday 5th September 2008

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A deal that could see a leading public school providing Radley with a new village hall has split villagers.

The village has been promised a new village hall and playing fields, if Radley College gets the go-ahead for a housing scheme on Green Belt land.

But with the parish council anxious to progress the idea with the independent school, a new campaign group called Save Radley has been formed to fight the scheme.

The school wants to build homes on the site of the present village hall and a neighbouring football pitch and sports pavilion on Gooseacre. As part of the deal, it would build a new village hall next to Radley Primary School in Church Road. It has also offered to create two new playing fields on adjacent farmland.

But with both sites within the Green Belt, opposition to the scheme in the village is growing, with residents launching a Save Radley campaign.

One of the group's founders John Platts, of Norfolk Close, said many local residents feared the proposal could see the village eventually swamped by Abing- don.

He said: "Breaching the Green Belt within and on the edge of the village would represent a dangerous precedent that could signal the end of Radley as an independent village."

The college earlier said that it was too early to say how many new homes might be built.