COUNCILLORS will tonight be urged to overturn plans to knock down a 150-year-old Summertown working men’s club for homes.

The bid for homes on the site of the closed North Oxford Grove House Club on the corner of Grove Street and Middle Way is “gross overdevelopment”, councillors warned.

This would lead to “very unsatisfactory quality of accommodation for the residents and unacceptable pressure on the local parking situation,” they said.

The 13 Oxford City Council members have called in the plan to be reviewed by the council’s planning review committee tonight.

It was approved by the west area planning committee on September 14 on the recommendation of a council planning officer.

The plan – for a four-bedroom house and three, three-bedroom houses – proposes one parking and 18 cycle spaces.

Some 15 letters opposed the scheme along with the petition of 33 signatures, with concerns including the loss of a community facility and lack of car parking.

A planning officer again recommends councillors at tonight’s meeting approve the scheme.

The original planning officer’s report said: “The proposal is considered to make a more efficient use of a brownfield site, in a manner that would be sympathetic to the character and appearance of the area and the amenities of neighbouring properties.

“The development would create an acceptable residential environment, preserving important trees on site and promoting the use of non-car modes of transport.”

The committee will meet in the Town Hall in St Aldate’s at 6pm. The public are welcome to attend.