Concerns have been raised that communities north of Oxford are being "gradually eroded" as part of an agenda to subtly subsume them into the city.

Cherwell District Council has been hit by a "tsunami of planning applications" as of late, as said by Ian Middleton, the Green councillor for the Kidlington division. 

This includes 540 homes being approved this month for the village of Yarnton and taxpayers having to pick up the pieces after the responsible authorities were told they had "behaved unreasonably" by a planning inspector. 

Householders have expressed growing concerns over the quantity of proposed developments on Green Belt land and fear the so-called ‘Kidlington Gap,’ which separates Oxford from the village will be lost. 

Another notable development in the area is the Oxford North project which will include 480 new homes and one million sq ft of laboratory and workspaces.

And some councillors in the area have also said "plonking a new football stadium" in the village of Kidlington will "add insult to injury".

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Mr Middleton, who is a Green councillor for the Kidlington division, said: "There seems to be a clear agenda to essentially treat Cherwell as a suburb of Oxford.

Oxford Mail: Ian Middleton.Ian Middleton. (Image: Contributed.)
"There is a very good chance that someone at the boundary commission will soon be expanding the boundaries of Oxford to the A34.

"It's development creep and a gradual erosion.

"These things have happened in increments - you turn around and the next thing you've got a football stadium and 2,000 houses.

"It's a stadium for Oxford United, not Oxfordshire United."

A planning appeal hearing was launched in February by landowner Merton College in Oxford due to Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council initially rejecting its proposals to build 540 homes near Rutten Lane in Yarnton.

Concerns about the development taking place in an area "prone to flooding" and about a "low amount" of affordable housing were eventually dropped with both councils accepting the developers' claims the new homes would not add to flood risk.

Oxford Mail: Flooded Yarnton.Flooded Yarnton.

Cherwell District Council and Oxfordshire County Council have now been told they must pay the costs of the appeal to Merton College due to behaving "unreasonably" and thereby causing "the party applying for costs to incur unnecessary or wasted expense in the appeal process".

Housing developments north of Oxford come amid the agreement being reached this week on heads of terms for the county council to lease land it owns near Kidlington for Oxford United to develop a new football stadium.

Kidlington West Liberal Democrat councillor Dorothy Walker said: "Where does this end?

"I think the environmental questions are very significant and seem to be largely ignored.

"There needs to be much more local control over development and greater power needs to be given to a local body and not see them being overruled like this."

Oxford Mail: Dorothy Walker.Dorothy Walker. (Image: Cherwell District Council.)

Speaking after the planning application for the new stadium in February was validated, Oxford United Supporters’ panel chairman Paul Scaysbrook said: “It’s not just for the fans as this is a huge moment for Oxfordshire as a whole.

"If you can build a stadium that’s for the whole of the county, then it’s a huge step for Oxfordshire."

Many football fans worry that Oxford United could be left "homeless" if a new stadium is not found in time.

Manager of Kidlington's The Jolly Boatman restaurant, Sam Jeffrey, said of the developments: "I'm in support of it all.

"I quite like football stadiums.

"It's an exciting thing for me.

"And more customers means more money."

Oxford Mail: The Jolly Boatman.The Jolly Boatman. (Image: Google Maps.)

Mr Jeffrey, who has worked in Kidlington for 10 years, said there "was not enough going on" when he grew up in the village.

The restaurateur added: "It's still a village in the outskirts - it's never going to become a part of Oxford and it hasn't changed too much.

"This is still the village that I grew up in."

Sarah Borne, a worker at the Rapid Leasing company for cars, who had previously worked in Kidlington for 20 years said: "To be fair it's inevitable.

"They are going to pop up homes everywhere.

Oxford Mail: Image indicating the 540 homes development site.Image indicating the 540 homes development site.

"You're not going to stop it.

"You just go on with your life and move on."

Helen Marshall, director at The Countryside Charity (CPRE Oxfordshire), insisted "development creep" was taking place.

Ms Marshall added: "The Oxford Green Belt is at its narrowest at this point and there is a real risk of coalescence of Kidlington and other villages with the city of Oxford.

"This threatens the rural character of the area but also doesn’t provide the houses that people really need."

Oxford Mail: CGI of the proposed stadium.CGI of the proposed stadium. (Image: Oxford United)

A spokesman for Oxford City Council previously said "Oxford needs homes" and that it has already tried to fit in as many houses as it possibly can within the city boundaries.

A Cherwell District Council spokesman added on the Yarnton appeal: "The site in question is allocated for development in the council’s Local Plan as part of a strategy for the area to assist in meeting Oxford’s housing needs including for affordable housing.

"The plan was examined by the planning inspectorate with public hearings and found to be sound."