THOUSANDS more new homes are being earmarked for Didcot and Wallingford under plans to expand the towns.

South Oxfordshire District Council this week revealed the sites where it would prefer to build more than 3,300 new homes before 2026.

It has narrowed down the options after months of consultation with residents and research into possible sites.

The preferred housing sites form part of the Local Development Framework — the council’s long-term plan for the area.

Angie Paterson, the council’s cabinet member for planning, said the proposals were not set in stone.

She said: “This is not a done deal – we need people’s feedback. This is the critical time for people to influence this.”

In the north of Didcot, 1,430 homes are earmarked for construction on land north-east of Ladygrove before 2016.

Three hundred homes will also be built in the Orchard Centre, the town’s shopping centre, which will be expanded by 2013.

Between 2016 and 2026, the council suggests 450 homes could be built either north of Ladygrove or south-west of Didcot, in the parish of West Hagbourne.

Another 300 homes are earmarked forVauxhall Barracks, which will be available for redevelopment when the Army moves out by 2016.

Didcot Town Council decided on Monday to support development to the north of the town as it wants to preserve a green buffer of countryside between Didcot and East and West Hagbourne.

At Wallingford, 850 homes are proposed south of the town, at Winterbrook, or Slade Farm, to the west.

Mayor Alec Hayton said: “I think it’s quite an exciting idea, provided they don’t try to squeeze a quart into a pint pot or jam them in so tightly there are no facilities and there’s no room for parking.”

The district council has pledged to provide infrastructure and facilities to help the two towns cope with the extra homes.

Mrs Paterson added: “At the end of the day we have to have housing and it has to go somewhere.

“There are always people who don’t want housing in a particular place. It’s about trying to find the best approach.

“Infrastructure must come with the housing. If housing comes before, we will have problems.”

news@oxfordmail.co.uk