Revised plans for 669 homes have been approved despite fears from Wantage Town Council it will overwhelm infrastructure and impact green spaces.

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 on Wednesday, May 31.

The plans are part of the 1,500 home Kingsgrove development which was approved in 2015.

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During the public consultation process on the plans for 669 homes, before it was approved, the town council lodged an objection.

A council statement raised “concerns that the increase of units will impact on local amenities, infrastructure, green spaces and car parking that is required to provide a quality development.”

On July 15, 2015, all 1,500 homes of the Kingsgrove development were granted outline planning permission – subject to further details known as reserved matters.

Since then, reserved matters applications have been approved – or are pending approval – for 865 of the homes.

That left just 635 homes.

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The deadline for the reserved matters applications is July 13 – which St. Modwen, the master developer for the entire Kingsgrove development, said was not feasible for the remaining homes.

It therefore decided to apply again for outline planning permission, this time revising the plans to include an additional 34 homes – bringing the total to 669.

David Pinchin, who lives in Wantage, objected to the increase in the number of homes.

He said: “We object to a further 34 properties as we consider that the concentration of new housing is already excessive.

“The local infrastructure is already inadequate. More properties also means less green space and wildlife and we would rather the houses were given larger gardens instead.”

Sandra Johnston added: “The side wall of my house is within three feet of the land boundary, as is my neighbours opposite, and I would like the planners to bear this in mind when finalising the plans.

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Teresa Cox said: “I am concerned about the noise and dust pollution during construction, especially with the wind direction.”

Robert Carroll said: “This area is quite green and is a habitat to many animals. Birds and hedgehogs live around the existing residences, and deer can often been seen in the fields where the development is planned.

“The new development should include green spaces, trees and bushes sufficient to encourage wildlife to stay in the area.”

A spokeswoman from St. Modwen said: “We are happy to have received unanimous resolution to grant approval for our application, and to be able to continue building a new community at Kingsgrove.

"We already had permission for 1,500 homes and are pleased to be able to offer 34 extra homes including 35% affordable housing without impacting the heights, density or landscaped areas.”

In her column in this week’s Herald, Wantage and Grove Campaign Group manager Julie Mabberley addresses the newly approved plans.