Villagers have celebrated a “David and Goliath victory” over a housing developer after plans for hundreds of new homes were dismissed on appeal.

Michael Gove has refused planning permission for the proposed development of more than 350 homes on green belt land off Papist Way in Cholsey.

It comes after hundreds of villagers sent postcards to the housing secretary urging him to reject the appeal by developers JT Leavesley.

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Liz Nixon, chair of Cholsey Parish Council, said: “It feels like a David and Goliath victory. Everyone in the village was really behind our campaign and we worked really hard.

“We had a petition that was signed by well over two-thirds of the village and all the postcards were really amazing.

Oxford Mail:

Oxford Mail:

“It sends a sign that villages can oppose these big plans and do it successfully. I would say to other villages, ‘don’t give up’.

The application to build 350 homes and 80 extra-care dwellings was initially rejected by South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority.

But the decision was appealed by the developers last year.

Mr Gove was due to decide on the appeal in April, but pushed the decision back to June, then August, and finally to October, with villagers claiming they felt “left in the dark” by the delay.

But last week, the secretary of state upheld the district council’s decision on the grounds that the size of the development would exceed housing requirements outlined in the area’s local plan.

Cholsey has already identified land for 690 new homes compared to the 612 required to meet projected growth levels.

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The planning decision states that the proposal would be “demonstrably an unsustainable level of growth.”

“Everyone was just so pleased, and if I’m being honest, I was a little bit surprised,” said Ms Nixon. “You’re never quite sure if it’s going to be done.

“We were always hopeful that it would get done because we believed we had a good case. But because we hadn’t seen the inspector’s report from the appeal, we just didn’t know. We needn’t have been so worried.”

As well as the postcards, there were written objections, petitions, protests, and posters against the plans from villagers.

Oxford Mail: Michael Gove

The public inspector received 300 written objections to the appeal and a petition in the village attracted more than 1,600 signatures – 55 per cent of the adult population.

Many villagers also turned out for a public inquiry over the development in September 2022.

JT Leavesley did not respond when asked to comment.

The developer's full application, which was first submitted in March 2021, would have seen homes, retail and employment space, a community building, and a day care nursery built on the green belt land.