HUNDREDS of homes look set to be built on the edge of Oxford after the launch of a multi-million-pound drain- age scheme.

A problem with drainage and sewers in Botley and Cumnor Hill has blocked developments since devastating floods hit the city in 2007.

Now almost 450 homes are set to be built and the £15m revamp of Seacourt Retail Park can also go ahead after Thames Water announced it was starting the £7m sewer expansion project.

Work is set to start in just a month’s time and is expected to take less than a year.

Large parts of Oxfordshire flooded in July 2007 and Thames Water said the west of Oxford was particularly hard hit as the sewers could not cope with the volume of rainfall.

Some 20 planning applications in the area have been on hold as a result due to concerns the sewer system could not cope.

But work can now start to divide Seacourt Retail Park’s three large units into 11 smaller shops and remove the petrol station.

Brad Critcher, a director at developer TDH Estates, said: “We are delighted at the news and we are working hard to get things on site as quickly as we can.”

Another 161 homes can be built on the former Timbmet site in Cumnor Hill where developer Persimmon Homes has already built 31.

Oxford University has outline planning permission to build 150 homes in Tilbury Lane and a bid made last year by developer Bovis Homes to build 130 houses in Lime Road can now be considered.

In 2006, a planning inspector ruled 460 houses should be built in Botley and Cumnor to meet housing needs.

Roger Cox, Vale cabinet member for planning, said: “We appreciate this situation has been frustrating for applicants and now look forward, at last, to being able to determine applications that have been on hold for some time as well as being able to permit some new applications for new housing.”

But North Hinksey Parish Council chairman Neil Clark said people did not want more housing.

He said: “It was a dead issue and now it’s right back on the agenda again.

“We are against these developments as our infrastructure cannot cope. The library is small and the doctors’ surgery is at breaking point. It is going to really change the nature of the area. It will destroy the remaining rural feeling.”

Arthur Fisher, 95, from Sweetmans Road, who has lived in Botley for 65 years, said: “We live in a lovely Green Belt here and I don’t want to see it spoilt.”

But vice chairman of Cumnor Parish Council Dick Clarke said the area needed housing, adding: “This is what everyone has been waiting for.”

Another Cumnor Parish Council member Peter Bowell said residents in Deanfield Road had had sewage come up through their toilets after heavy rainfall and if the issue was fixed it would be a “huge relief”.

He said the problem had been apparent in the street for more than 40 years and previous attempts to solve it had failed, adding: “We want to see more than promises, we want to see action.”

Thames Water spokesman Natalie Slater said: “This is a very complex scheme and we have looked at more than 80 options to ensure we get the right solution for the long-term to protect homes in Botley.

“Due to the size of this £7m project, there will inevitably be some disruption to road users but we are doing everything we can to keep this to a minimum.”

Details as to which streets will be affected will emerge next month.

None of the homes or stores can be occupied until work is completed.