Housing agreed for Milcombe and Great Bourton
31/07/2025
The Planning Committee made their decisions on Thursday afternoon
Cherwell District Council’s Planning Committee have this afternoon agreed to new housing being built in both Milcombe and Great Bourton.
Milcombe
Permission was given for 50 houses to be built on a green field site in Milcombe, on the southern side of the Bloxham Road and backing onto Portland Road.
A previous application to build 90 houses on this site was rejected last year, but officers recommended acceptance this time, due to the council not being able to demonstrate it will have enough new homes being built within the next 5 years.
Initially Councillor David Rogers proposed refusing the application, noting that under the council’s new Local Plan the development wouldn’t be permitted. Concerns were all expressed that the only walking route for children to reach the primary school in Bloxham was across fields or down the busy main road which had no footpath. However, with the new Local Plan not yet in force a vote on Councillor Roger’s refusal was lost with just two other councillors supporting him.
A subsequent proposal by Councillor Amanda Watkins to agree to the planning application was voted through by 15 of the 18 committee members.
Great Bourton
The committee also considered an application to build 19 houses on a plot of land in the middle of Great Bourton.
Talbot Homes had initially indicated they wanted to build 9 properties on the field, which is to the north of Main Street. However, Cherwell’s planning officers advised them this didn’t make effective use of land and so the plans were changed to include twelve standard 3-5 bedroom houses and seven 1 – 4 bedroom affordable dwellings.
Great Bourton Parish Council objected, saying the new scheme wasn’t appropriate for the site, but planning officers recommended the application be approved.
Councillor Amanda Watkins proposed accepting the application, noting it included 7 affordable houses, which could be lost if permission was refused and the applicant subsequently came forward with a smaller scheme. This was voted through by 15 of the 18 committee members.
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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