COUNCILLORS in Abingdon are pushing to get a neighbourhood plan after a pre-application to build 900 houses north of the town was approved.

The district council passed preliminary plans to develop land in Sunningwell and Radley, which could see a housing estate, a school and a local centre built on land west of Tilsley Park.

Councillor Sandy Lovatt, leader of Abingdon Town Council, wants to fast-track discussions to get a neighbourhood plan in Abingdon, which would dictate where future developments could take place, before building starts.

He said at a planning meeting on Monday: “I would like to see Abingdon have its own projects. We are asking the community to decide whether or not it wishes to pursue a neighbourhood plan.”

The document would mean developer Nexus Planning would have to comply with the town’s housing vision, though Mr Lovatt said building was not likely to start before 2019. Vale of White Horse District Council will set out stage two of its district-wide local plan, which will set out guidelines for planning applicants, in 2017.

Mr Lovatt explained that for the neighbourhood plan to influence the local plan – which overrides the neighbourhood plan – it must be in place before that date.

He said: “If we don’t have a neighbourhood plan we would be out of pocket and missing the boat. We need one for many reasons – environmental, economic and social.”

Though the Sunningwell and Radley development does not fall into Abingdon’s parish at the moment, the town council hopes to extend the its boundaries to reach the development by the time building starts.

Boundary changes will be enforced at the next council elections in 2019, meaning Abingdon Town Council would cash in on the developer’s £1.56mn ‘community infrastructure levy’ that pays for local improvements such as landscaping and junction improvements.

Mike Badcock, representing Caldecott, said: “I am really keen to get people under 30 involved.”

His daughter Alice Badcock, the youngest councillor on the planning committee, said: “Young people will need to be involved in it. We all have different ideas.”

The town council will decide on January 27 on the neighbourhood plan. It will go to public consultation if it is passed.