CONTROVERSIAL plans to build 65 homes in Adderbury have returned, with a developer saying a change in housing plans now works in its favour.

Residents are furious at the new bid by Berkeley Homes for homes on land off Milton Road, saying it would ruin their countryside views.

The development would also include a sports pitch which could be offered to Adderbury Park Football Club.

The developer’s plan was rejected by Cherwell District Council and then on appeal by the Planning Inspectorate last year.

Inspectors partly refused the appeal because they said the council could probably show it had earmarked land to meet housing need over five years. But the developer now argues the council does not have enough sites to meet this need.

It points to an inspector’s ruling in favour of a 140-homes plan for Talisman Road, Bicester, which said the supply was likely to last less than five years.

And Berkeley said developments at Bankside in Banbury and south west of Bicester are unlikely to progress quickly enough.

Taking into account new Government demand for housing, this leaves the council 1,239 units short of the 4,423 target, some 3.6 years of supply, it said.

The council rejected the plan last year saying it would cause “harm to the character and appearance of the countryside”.