AN ONLINE petition to stop a housing development being built on a meadow has received over 55,000 signatures.

Oxford City Council, as part of its Local Plan, is hoping to develop at least 29 houses on the land in Iffley Village, between Meadow Lane and Church Way.

This would result in a meadow in the heart of the Iffley Village Conservation Area being built on.

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The council has continuously justified the plans, which are set to be put forward before Christmas, by stressing Oxford’s need for more housing – particularly 'affordable homes'.

Twelve homes on the site have been earmarked for social rent.

Evelyn Sanderson, a resident of Iffley Village who set up the campaign group Friends of the Fields Iffley, addressed councillors last week about the proposals.

She said: “Over the summer shoppers in Broad Street can enjoy Broad Meadow, thanks to you – but Broad Meadow is a fake.

“It is only a fast-food meadow for rapid consumption, and in September it will be gone.

“How careless we are with our meadows, 90 per cent of wildflower meadows have been lost, but here in Oxford we have the last remaining ancient meadow in Iffley Village.”

The campaigners argue that by building the development on this land, the nature corridor and the designated cycle quiet route would be destroyed.

She added: “The question is simple – do we value them or ruin them. It is entirely up to you.”

Student campaigner Lucy Grabe-Watson, who lives in Osney, said: “For me, it’s about stopping this development going ahead because of the biodiversity and I am not a resident in Iffley.

“The fact they are destroying this without even balancing the ecological damage against the positives, which are the 12 social houses.

“Social housing is really important, but it’s the balance."

The student said that the land could used for the wider community, by providing a site for a Forest School.

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Fellow campaigner Rachel Falconer, who lives on Meadow Lane, echoed similar concerns, said: “They have spent a lot of money to buy these meadows, and before they get planning permission, we want them to recognise that these fields are ecological resources.

“We need to conserve and enhance their ecological assets.

“We are in the context of almost all of the wildflower meadows in the UK have been obliterated.”

The council said the land in Iffley was allocated for housing after repeated rounds of consultation, and an ‘exhaustive’ public examination process, adding that over 50 per cent of the city’s housing needs are being provided on sites outside of Oxford.

The council spokesman added that had Oxford City Housing Limited (OCHL) not purchased the land, a private developer would have developed the land.

The city council strssed the land was not ancient wildflower meadow and was being used for grazing.