A VILLAGE cemetery would be prevented from expanding if a new housing estate goes ahead, councillors have warned.

Grove Parish Council said the graveyard on Denchworth Road must be able to grow if the population is to boom by thousands as planned.

The council made the warning in response to a planning application for 456 homes in the so-called Monks Farm estate being planned north of the village.

Councillors also raised fears the new homes, planned by Gallagher Estates and Gleeson Strategic Land, could increase the flood risk around the cemetery.

More generally there were concerns that the whole estate would be "isolated" from the rest of the Grove because there are no roads planned between the two.

Councillors agreed on a list of objections at a meeting of the full council on Tuesday, June 14.

They also drew up objections to a separate plan to build 75 homes in the same area, immediately West of Bellinger's Garage, by Bellaway Homes Ltd.

That scheme already has outline planning permission, but the developer has now submitted the fine details of its scheme in a "reserved matters" planning application.

Councillors said there was insufficient parking for the 14 flats, with only 14 spaces being planned and no visitors parking.

They also objected that three-storey and two-and-a-half-storey buildings were "not in keeping with the rest of the village".

Vale of White Horse District Council will now consider the council's objections and make final decisions on both applications later this year.