A PLANNING firm reviewing where 750 houses should be built in Wallingford has recommended extending the town north.

Consultancy Studio REAL said the best place for new homes, which the Government says must be built by 2026, is a 170-acre site between Castle Street and Wantage Road, north of Wilding Road.

The land, dubbed Site A, had previously been rejected for new homes by South Oxfordshire District Council, which said it was too close to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Now the firm’s shock recommendation will throw further uncertainty on how the town will expand.

On Monday, district councillors voted for a month’s consultation whether the farming land should become housing.

Studio REAL says 750 homes would take up only approximately a third of the site, but residents of Norries Drive, St George’s Green, and Wilding Road would lose their views of rolling fields and fear thousands of pounds would be knocked off the value of their homes.

St George’s Green resident Paul Almand, 62, said: “It is going to create havoc on the road going down to Shillingford Bridge.

“I know people have got to have houses, but there are huge problems with logistics. Local services and roads will be stretched to breaking point.

“Once you start filling in that gap, Wallingford will eventually become Dorchester.”

District councillor Angie Paterson urged residents to make views known during consultation from January 25 to February 22. She said: “It is important people see we are trying to think this through seriously. It is difficult working out where the extra housing needs to go, but we do need it.”

Housing could be blocked if Oxfordshire County Council lists Site A as an essential source of sand and gravel.

Alternatively, excavation could take place as the new houses are built.

Nadine Depre, 54, of Norries Drive, said: “When we moved here, I understood it would stay as farmland. Since then there has been talk about digging for gravel.

“I don’t know what I would prefer more: a big hole with a gravel pit, or 750 extra houses. I would prefer if it was left the way it is.”

If Site A is eventually chosen for Wallingford’s extra homes, it would mean huge new housing estates would not be built on land south of Wantage Road (Site B) or at Winterbrook (Site E).

Before Studio REAL’s report, these were the council’s preferred sites. Vocal objections from those living nearby prompted councillors to call in Kidlington firm Studio REAL.

The firm says Site A provides better access to the town for cyclists and pedestrians and is closer to Wallingford School, which could get extra playing fields as part of the development.