A DECISION on whether Grove Business Park can double in size which was due to be made at a meeting tonight has been postponed at the last minute for "legal reasons".

Vale of White Horse District Council's planning committee was due to make a decision on the planning application at a meeting in Wantage tonight.

But the council has today put a notice on its website saying "Application P16/V1721/O has been deferred from consideration at planning committee on 19 October 2016 due to legal reasons and will be considered at a later date."

The council has not yet said what the problem is.

The application had been recommended for approval by council officers depsite concerns that the current plans include felling more than 100 trees.

A council planning officer said the proposal to build four football pitches' worth of new "high quality" office space and industrial units was so desirable the plans should be approved and the tree felling discussed at a later stage.

But a forestry officer has said the loss of mature and protected trees is "significant" and the justification for removing some of the most important is "often scant".

That officer also said that the plans did not include sufficient space to replace the trees with new ones.

The concerns came to light in a report by Vale of White Horse District Council's major planning applications officer Peter Brampton.

He wrote: "The current proposals will result in the loss of over 100 trees and impact on the longevity of several others.

"There are several areas where the tree loss will be particularly visually significant."

In one case where the park owners want to remove an avenue of horse chestnuts in the north western corner of the site Mr Brampton wrote: "The need for new planting along this western boundary is essential to mitigate the loss. This is where the indicative masterplan, in officers' opinion, is unacceptable.

"Building 44 in particular would require the removal of a large portion of the avenue and project so close to the western boundary of the site that there would be no opportunity to plant trees that would offer the same amenity value as those lost."

Mr Brampton also singled out two hornbeam trees likely to be "adversely affected" by the building plans, another row of Horse Chestnuts on the southwestern boundary of the site earmarked for removal and plans to chop down a mature lime which he said was "entirely avoidable".

He also said that some trees earmarked to be axed could be home to bats, but no surveys have been carried out to find out if they do.

Despite all of those concerns, Mr Brampton has recommended the plans be approved and the tree worries kicked into the long grass.

He explained to the planning committee: "The provision of new jobs is considered extremely desirable in this location given the scale of proposed housing growth at Grove and Wantage.

"In terms of the environmental role, officers are concerned about the scale of tree removal that would be necessary to achieve the indicative layout.

"This would be unacceptable at detailed stage but officers are satisfied that the concerns outlined in this report can be addressed."

The application to build 40,000sq m of offices and industrial units has been submitted by Grove Business Park Ltd, which bought the site for an estimated £10m last year.

Vale of White Horse District Council planning committee will still meet to discuss other planning applications at The Beacon in Wantage at 6.30pm tonight.

See the full agenda at http://democratic.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=102&MId=2159