RESIDENTS whose plan for the future of their town was torn to shreds by a Government inspector have vowed to start again.

Volunteers spent more than a year drawing up Wantage Neighbourhood Plan, which would have outlined areas for development, are now looking at spending another year re-writing it.

Planning inspector John Parminter said six of the plan's 14 policies, aiming to create more shops, protect green spaces and limit housing growth, should be deleted because there was no evidence to support them, placing the whole document in doubt.

Failure to have a formal plan in place could make it much harder to refuse unwanted housing developments.

It is believed to be the first time in Oxfordshire that a Neighbourhood Plan has been rejected by an inspector.

The decision on whether to adopt the plan still rests with the town council but if the recommendations of the inspector are ignored it will have little impact on planning decisions.

One of the more controversial proposals was to protect 26 green spaces around the town, including several gardens and private fields, against any future development.

Ralph and Sue Cobham, who live in the Wantage house once occupied by Poet Laureate John Betjeman, objected to their garden being designated as Local Green Space on the basis it could affect their insurance.

Mr Parminter said that the reasons given in the plan for each green space were "no more than a summary of certain features".

The inspector also rejected a policy limiting development to the current town boundary defined by planning authority Vale of White Horse District Council.

He cited a comment from Oxfordshire County Council suggesting the policy should be "re-phrased to indicate how proposals for development outside the boundary will be considered, to ensure flexibility".

Mr Parminter also recommended for deletion a policy to expand Wantage Town Centre's shopping area into Church Street to the south, saying it would be better to fill empty premises in the town centre and concentrate retail use rather than expand.

Julie Mabberley, chairwoman of the Wantage Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, led a group of 40 volunteers and collected feedback from more than 1,600 residents.

She said she was shocked and disappointed by the report.

She said: "We felt we had done everything and our advisors suggested the plan was suitable for submission.

"The inspector has asked for a lot more evidence on a lot of things and I'm not sure what kind of evidence he wants.

"It is going to be hard work figuring out what is required then producing it, especially as that means getting the volunteers together again.

"I hope that we can get those teams back together."

Created by the 2011 Localism Act, the rules for Neighbourhood Plans are now set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Led by a town or parish council, they allow a community to decide where new development should go in their area and what it should or should not look like.

If the plan passes a town-wide referendum, it is adopted by the planning authority and developers are legally required to show they have taken it into consideration to get planning permission.

Wantage Town Council will hold a meeting at The Beacon on Wednesday, August 31, to decide which policies to abandon and which to take forward.

After that, the plan will have to go out to two more public consultations before being re-submitted for inspection.