PLANS for 2,361 new homes at the former Royal Air Force base in Upper Heyford could lead to traffic problems in Kidlington, the parish council has claimed.

Cherwell District Council voted last Monday to approve modifications to the Cherwell Local Plan, which sets out how many homes can be built across the local authority area until 2031.

The change to the plan, known as “Modification 16,” will see 2,361 homes built at the former RAF base, rather than the 760 originally planned.

The numbers had to be increased after the draft Local Plan was rejected by Government-appointed planning inspector Nigel Payne in June. He said it needed to provide another 6,000 homes across Cherwell.

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But parish council chairman David Betts said the additional homes in Upper Heyford would lead to traffic problems on an already congested road.

He said: “We remain concerned about the transport network and how it will deal with 2,500 homes in Upper Heyford.

“We believe that will lead to people using the A44 and the A4260 and we do not think the infrastructure is there to deal with it.

“We would rather not have development there and we need to understand how travel will be affected. I think we are looking at major transport disruption.”

More than 10,000 homes could be built in Bicester, more than 7,000 in Banbury and about 5,000 across Kidlington and in rural areas.

Cherwell District Council lead member for planning Michael Gibbard said: “Cherwell is not responsible for setting housing targets but it is responsible for meeting them.

“What this document does is look at where these homes could go so there is some structure to developments, rather than risking homes being built sporadically across the area.’’

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