A developer has won an appeal to build 175 new homes in a village on the edge of Didcot.

The large-scale housing development in Sutton Courtenay was given the green light by the government last Wednesday (December 6).

Planning inspector William Cooper ruled in favour of company Roebuck Land and Planning following an inquiry.

It comes after Vale of White Horse District Council rejected the plans in November 2022, with the developers taking the decision to appeal in May.

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At the time, the council's planning committee decided the houses would impact the safety of road users on Frilsham Street and said the application didn’t show how the smell from a nearby composting facility would be mitigated for residents, hundreds of whom also lodged objections. 

The council's refusal came despite the recommendation of planning officers to approve the new homes.

After holding a six-day inquiry in September, Mr Cooper decided to overrule the local planning authority’s decision.

In his report, he said traffic would be mitigated by several factors.

He argued there was not enough on street parking near the development to create an obstruction in the road and claimed that road users would exhibit “reasonable levels of road safety sense and consideration” while driving.

Addressing council concerns about the smell from the nearby Sutton Courtenay Composting Facility, he said that ‘expert sniff test odour surveys’ had found “no more than negligible or slightly adverse” smells at the site.

Jane Murphy, Oxfordshire County Councillor for Didcot East and Hagbourne, said: “It’s disappointing to see another planning decision not being upheld.

"I believe we will see more of this due to a lack of decision making from the current administration in pushing forward the housing infrastructure fund. This could even be a floodgate opening.

“We have over £200 million from the Government in housing infrastructure to help with road building and enhancing networks and layouts – yet our roads in the area are at full capacity, with this problem not solved due to a lack of decision making.

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“Of course people may want more houses but these should be in the right places. Regardless of housing needs, developers won’t stop.

"They have a scatter approach to building estates and are driven by profit whereas we need to get on with building roads first before more houses are proposed and built as the current road structure is struggling to cope.

“This decision runs the risk of having a knock-on effect for many surrounding villages too.”

The appeal decision comes months after levelling up secretary Michael Gove told the district council it would be put on “special measures” if it did not improve its planning performance.