Fears that a new development would lead to more flooding made a planning committee turn the application down.
South Oxfordshire District Council's northern area planning committee members said the two houses planned for 21 Aylesbury Road in Thame would cause problems. The former builder's yard edges the River Thame flood plain and one of the buildings would have intruded on to it.
Local resident and businessman John Hussey told the committee he had lived alongside the flood plain 70 years and seen problems increase. He said: "The River Thame now rises more quickly and floods more times than it ever did before."
The application to build the two houses had been opposed by Thame Town Council and ten neighbours.
Three neighbours had supported the plan.
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