A PLANNING application to build a state-of-the-art care home on Cumnor Hill has been made.

Rycote Developments wants to build a boomerang-shaped 72-bed residential care home and four units for staff accommodation.

It has applied for outline planning application from the Vale of White Horse District Council , which, if approved, will allow the firm permission to start developing more detailed plans. A report by Adrian James Architects said: “The building is not only shaped by the site parameters. It is also designed from the inside out to be an excellent care home which provides high-quality accommodation and functions well.

“Every resident’s room is spacious, well-appointed with en suite facilities and has a large window with a splendid aspect across the garden and woodland.”

But the development site’s close proximity to 85 Cumnor Hill, where a planning bid for 14 dwellings is currently being considered, has led to concerns.

Cumnor Hill resident Vaughan Thompson said: “It’s right opposite No.85, and there’s been staunch opposition to that.

“One of the big issues will be the drainage, because the area is prone to flooding. There are a lot of streams that run across and under the hill, so that’s something they’re going to have to respect.”

The proposals include plans for a “generous central communal dining and social room” and four studio flats for staff.

District councillor John Woodford, who represents Cumnor, would not comment on the plans, but said development in general was opposed in the area.

He said: “It’s one of those things, if people sell off their land, people are going to put in for planning applications on them.

“People who live on Cumnor Hill really don’t want Cumnor Hill to change at all, but I suppose the definition of ‘planning’ is the management of change.”