District anger after four refusals of planning permission overturned on appeal

A district council is to take legal advice after four major planning applications were all granted approval on appeal.

Councillors at Cherwell District Council had refused applications to develop 145 homes off Salt Way in Banbury, 70 dwellings in Hook Norton, and two separate applications for 75 and 85 homes in Bloxham.

This was on the basis that the areas were unsuitable for development, and the sites were contrary to the policies detailed within the Cherwell Local Plan. The latter is expected to be formally submitted for examination in October.

Developers launched appeals in each case against the decision and these were later called in Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

The council's lack of a five-year housing supply was cited as a reason for the decisions to be overturned.

Cllr Michael Gibbard, Cherwell’s lead member for planning, said: "I can't understand why Ministers called in these appeals if all they ever intended to do was rubber stamp them. This flies completely in the face of both localism and the plan making process.”

He added: "We are confident that we now have the necessary five year land supply following approval of other major planning applications. However, some of these developments have yet to be completed and this is what developers are challenging.

"As a council, we have considered the views of local people, and we have done what is asked of us by approving development in areas that we believe are sustainable. After that our hands are tied as it is up to the developers to decide when they are built within the designated timescale."