The campaign to halt the further expansion of Didcot is gaining momentum. A number of villages across south Oxfordshire is joining forces to fight housing proposals.
An extra 4,000 homes could be built around Didcot between 2016 and 2026 as part of the South East Plan - in addition to the 4,500 homes already in the pipeline. But residents in neighbouring villages fear they will be swamped by the expansion, and traffic problems will increase.
Appleford parish councillor and Vale district councillor, Gervase Duffield, is heading the village campaign. He said a large number of villages were backing an alternative option, tabled by Oxford City Council, to build the 8,000 homes on brownfield sites within Oxford's greenbelt, claiming Oxfordshire County Council's policy was to dump huge estates on fields around the county towns, such as Bicester, Wantage and Didcot.
He said: "The majority of us feel the Oxford development is much the better. In every case there has been problems. We think that it's the wrong principle. We are leading a campaign to work out from the major city rather than dump houses on small county towns - and we have a lot of support."
Mr Duffield said the new homes could be built within the green belt close to Oxford, jobs and transport links. The green belt boundary could then be altered to include new areas equal to the amount of land used for housing. Didcot Town Council is also backing the Oxford option and has conducted its own consultation.
The questionnaire, delivered to all homes in the town, lists the two options outlined in Oxfordshire County Council's consultation document - both of which include plans for 4,000 homes around Didcot - and a third option of all 8,000 homes in Oxford. Town Clerk Dominic Stapleton said more than 1,000 residents had responded to the consultation and more than 95 per cent had backed the Oxford option.
Oxford City Council has proposed building all 8,000 homes on 600-acre site to the south of Grenoble Road. But Oxfordshire County Council's preferred options are to split the homes between Didcot, Bicester and Grove. The Bicester and Didcot option has been backed by South Oxfordshire District Council.