Villagers are worried their “rural village identity” is at risk after a planning application for 170 new homes was submitted to the council.
A new planning application for 170 new homes in the parishes of Hanwell and Drayton has faced a backlash from a villager’s rural action group after the house building company Vistry submitted plans to Cherwell District Council.
Vistry submitted the application last Thursday, April 6, to build 170 new homes off Warwick Road and on two agricultural fields, which are currently being used for arable farming.
Don't let greedy landowners push local tenant farmers off their farms to sell off more prime agricultural land to make millions from housing developers. These fields don't just provide a green space between Hanwell/Banbury theyre a place for wildlife, food production & recreation pic.twitter.com/Mvb37nZXbu
— Keep Hanwell Village Rural (@handsoffhanwell) April 8, 2023
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Chair of the Keep Hanwell Village Rural Action Group Chris Brant has said the new development would be the “end for Hanwell as a rural village”.
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Mr Brant said: “This planning application from Vistry to build 170 homes in the parishes of Hanwell and Drayton would be the end for Hanwell as a rural village.
“Vistry's proposal clearly shows how the village would join Banbury, losing further prime agricultural land in the process.
“As a resident’s action group, we plan to meet with our local parish council to discuss the application and we welcome support from neighbouring communities including residents living in Banbury's Hanwell Chase who also want to protect their countryside between town and village".
The rural action group is worried Hanwell will be “swallowed up by housing developments” and will subsequently become a “suburb of Banbury”.
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Aside from Hanwell, the rural action group’s members come from the surrounding villages of Horley, Shotteswell, Drayton and the Bourtons.
The group has organised three public engagement events, where the prospect of the village losing grade 2 and 3a agricultural land will be discussed.
The first meeting is due to take place in Hanwell Village Hall between 7pm and 9pm on Tuesday, April 18.
This will be followed by meetings at Old School in Horley and Shotteswell Village Hall on April 19 and April 27 respectively.
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