Villagers have welcomed plans for 300 houses but drawn the line at talk of building 1,570 of them, writes Peter Barrington.

Parish councillors sounded out residents this week to agree on their response to the latest proposals for Bicester housing growth up to 2011.

Originally the controlling Conservative group on Cherwell District Council revised an earlier plan for 1,400 houses to be built between the town and Ches- terton.

They came up with a plan to spread the housing round at least three sites.

But the Tories had a re-think later on and plumped for 1,570 homes all the town's allocation going on the airfield at RAF Bicester to make it easier for developers to pay for schools and other community amenities. The airfield is a brownfield site.

As the airfield is on the opposite side of the Bicester-Buckingham road from Caversfield, parish councillors called a special meeting to ask residents for their views.

Parish council chairman, Odette Phipps, said: "We unanimously agreed to oppose the 1,570 houses. We would accept around 300 homes on the airfield because we realise that everybody has to take an allocation of some new housing."

She said that one of the main objections was that the airfield was the last large open space area left close to Bicester.

Another anxiety was the amount of traffic another huge estate would generate. Mrs Phipps said: "There would be 3,000 extra cars on the roads from 1,570 houses. With the M40 motorway to the south of Bicester it would be more sensible to build houses there."

She added: "If all those houses are built at RAF Bicester traffic on all roads leading to the M40 will be chock-a-block."

She added that parish councillors would prefer Bicester's future housing to be in line with the Tories' revised dispersed option.

"For example, Langford Village would welcome 700 houses being built between Gavray Drive and the Bicester North-London railway embankment."

**Cherwell District Council has put back from November 20 to December 13 a development committee meeting to consider proposals for future housing in Bicester and Banbury.