New plans have been submitted as part of a 1,500 homes proposal near an historic market town which objectors fear may become "dominated by car parking".
The large-scale housing development at Crab Hill, an area of land behind Charlton village and around one-and-a-half miles from Wantage Market Place, was given outline planning permission by Vale of White Horse District Council’s Planning Committee at a meeting at the end of May last year.
The plans are part of the 1,500 home Kingsgrove development which was approved in 2015.
An application which gives details of access, landscaping, appearance, layout and scale is under consultation for 115 of the homes at Crab Hill north of the A417 and east of the A338.
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But the deadline of July 13, 2023 for submitting a reserved matters application for all the homes could not be met by developers and so only 865 of them were approved.
Master developer, St. Mowden, then took the opportunity to also increase the number of remaining homes from 635 to 669 despite objection from some local bodies such as the town council.
A reserved application is now being submitted for 115 of these units.
It turns out a majority of the homes will comprise three-bedroom houses - at 51 per cent - with just 2.6 per cent being two-bed.
The development also includes three-storey flats in "key locations to improve the overall aesthetic and sense of place" but the majority of the development will be two-storeys high.
Homes are to be of standard brick construction with thermal double glazing and passive vents with an indirect air path.
Three identified parcels of land among the 115 homes are highlighted as lying within the central phase of the wider Kingsgrove development.
Proposals include 42 affordable rented units.
An assessment report raises no concerns about noise levels in the application and an energy statement says the development would "consider the longer-term impacts of a changing climate".
But pre-application engagement in October 2023 with the Vale of White Horse District Council and Oxfordshire County Council had noted some points of concern.
The district council said one section of the development - known as Parcel A - was "dominated by car parking leading to a poor layout with a lack of space for landscaping to contain these spaces."
Developers responded by saying the proposed parking had been "broken up by planting to ensure that, with one exception, there are no more than four spaces in a row".
A general point of note was "there is a lack of amenity space for apartments".
Developers responded that five sqm balconies had been designed for flats included in the plans.
A decision on the application will be made by planning committee councillors in due course.
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