RESIDENTS of Eynsham will have the opportunity to have their say on the thousands of extra homes that could be built in and around their village over the next 15 years.

The council is holding two meetings about the future of development in the area, giving people the opportunity to raise concerns with district and county council leaders.

The village could be set for a massive increase in size, with West Oxfordshire District Council’s revised Local Plan earmarking it for an additional 3,200 homes before 2031.

As the number of homes Oxford needs cannot be built in the city, they are having to be built in the districts. In West Oxfordshire, Eynsham is set to take the most with more than 3,200 homes currently proposed for the village and its surrounding area.

Of these, 1,000 homes would be built to the west of Eynsham and the so-called ‘Tilgarsley Garden Village’ would include 2,200.

Chairman of the parish council Gordon Beach said: “I think in the town at this moment there is undoubtedly concern about what’s been proposed – and people are very unhappy that it’s been done without consultation.

“There are a lot of people who are annoyed about the plans for a garden village.

“We are in the process of producing a neighbourhood plan and we can’t say we weren’t expecting development – but not at the scale that has been proposed and without any consultation of the public.”

A meeting in Eynsham Village Hall on Monday, December 5, will allow residents to question the leaders of WODC, Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council, on the village's role in the revised Local Plan.

And West Oxfordshire councillors have today been asked to approve plans to build 160 homes on land off Thornbury Road, despite concerns over infrastructure and the amount of places at Eynsham Primary School.

The application has received dozens of letters of objection, with district and parish councillor Peter Emery saying the majority of feedback relates to access to the site, as well as education.

Mr Emery said: “I will be questioning whether Thornbury Road is capable of taking so many additional cars at the meeting.

“Another concern is that the primary school in the village is full. Oxfordshire County Council has suggested using buses to take pupils to alternative schools in Cassington and Hanborough, which is crazy. Children of that age should be able to walk to school with their parents.”

The council is inviting people in the parish to an all-day session in the village hall from 10.30am to 5pm on Saturday, November 19, to have their say on the its neighbourhood plan.

The meeting on the Local Plan, also in the village hall, will begin at 7.30pm on December 5.