Public can comment on Chalgrove airfield homes plan

Two district councils said a review of the allocated sites shows that the development "is unlikely to be achievable"

Members of the public can now have their say on plans to build 3,000 homes on a former airfield.

The site on Chalgrove airfield, in Oxfordshire, is open for comments within South Oxfordshire and Vale of the White Horse district councils' current Joint Local Plan consultation.

The councils are proposing for the allocated site to be removed from their development plan.

The consultation will run for six weeks until 23:59 GMT on 21 February.

The original plan was unpopular with some resident and the majority of those who replied to a consultation in 2018 were opposed to the development going ahead, with one resident saying the the plan was "frankly laughable".

Homes England owns Chalgrove Airfield but it part leases it to ejector seat manufacturer Martin-Baker.

The agency withdrew its outline planning application for the site in May 2021 after an objection by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The current site boundary does not allow enough space for 3,000 new homes and a realigned runway delivered to CAA standards.

Homes England has advised its boundary would need to be extended to address the concerns.

The future of Chalgrove Airfield is one of the topics open for comments as part of a Joint Local Plan consultation that South Oxfordshire and Vale of the White Horse district councils are currently running.

It is one of the sites the councils are proposing to delete from the development plan, saying the development "is unlikely to be achievable".

"Our review has found that the significant change in social and environmental priorities of the Joint Local Plan now render the site unsuitable for development," their consultation documents said.

"An extension to the site boundary to include additional land in the control of the site promoter to facilitate a relocation of the runway, to address the CAA concerns, would result in the site’s greenfield footprint extending even further."

The documents further add that "whilst Homes England do control the land to facilitate an extension, expanding the allocation would result in the site further conflicting with the emerging spatial strategy of the Joint Local Plan".

Homes England said "In light of SODC’s proposal, we are reviewing the next stages of the project and will provide an update when we’re able to do so”.