A proposal for a 37-dwelling development, comprised of one and two-storey housing on land south of Charlbury was deferred for a June site visit, at a West Oxfordshire District Council Sub-Committee meeting on Monday.
The proposal has faced setbacks before, notably after reaching approval in January this year an independent legal challenge led the Council to quash permission, however the latest will delay construction nearly a further two months at minimum.
At the meeting, planning officer Mike Cassidy revealed that in total the proposal had now gathered 145 objections, and 24 letters of support.
Comments
Jim Clemence, a representative of Friends of the West Oxfordshire Cotswolds (FWOC) spoke at the meeting, urging the Council to conduct a site visit, and arguing that the report put forward for the proposal after FWOC’s latest challenge was an attempt to use local housing need as a reason to designate the proposal as a rural exception site, Mr Clemence said: “Local housing need is not wholly exceptional”, and that the argument was made: “to justify harm to the ancient woodland” referring to the ancient woodland that borders the site.
Phillipa Phelan, member of Charlbury Town Council, described the application as: “laudable in its aims of addressing housing needs”
Decision
Overall, the Committee voted for the site visit, advised to be the 4th of June, with 11 in favour, one against, and none abstaining.
© 2026 UK Property Forums. All rights reserved.
This article and its contents are the intellectual property of UK Property Forums and may not be reproduced, distributed, or used in any form without prior written permission. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not constitute legal or professional advice.
