A village where hundreds of new houses have been built in recent years must be protected from speculative planning applications, critics have said.

Worcester-based land promoter Lioncourt Strategic Land Limited has submitted initial proposals for up to 115 homes off Common Land in North Leigh.

But critics point out that some 240 plus houses have been approved or built in North Leigh village since 2017.

During a planning appeal which Manor Oak Homes won over the refusal of permission for 43 homes the parish council said it would bring the total number of approved or completed houses since 2017 to 1,000 “resulting in North Leigh hardly being classified as a village”.

Over 50 per cent of the proposed site on four fields covering 28 acres bordered by the A4095 and the edge of North Leigh village will be open space and includes a play area and community orchard with affordable housing including self-build plots.

The plans say vehicle access would be off Common Road and there would be a separate pedestrian connection to Common Road.

Planning documents said the development “adjoins the existing settlement” and is "well connected via regular public transport" to  Witney, Carterton and Long Hanborough as well as Oxford from nearby bus stops.

The nearest railway station is five kilometres away in Long Hanborough on the mainline service from London Paddington to Worcester.

A portion of the late Iron Age Grim’s Ditch Scheduled Monument runs up to the western boundary of the site and this would be surrounded by central open space.

The land has been submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council’s ‘call for sites’ as deliverable housing land, said Lioncourt.

Conservative county councillor for Hanborough Liam Walker said the proposals were partly a result of the council not having sufficient sites for new homes, losing what is known as a "five-year housing land supply".

He said: “Along with Conservative district council colleagues we have consistently worked hard to protect villages in West Oxfordshire from more over-development.

"We are laser focused on ensuring the Lib Dem-led coalition at WODC get on with delivering the larger strategic housing sites, so our villages stop getting taken advantage of by developers with sites that weren’t in the local plan now being won by developers on appeal.

"The council is not hitting the annual housing target required and therefore doesn't have a five-year housing land supply because they're dragging their feet on the bigger sites to the detriment of our villages."

West Oxfordshire District Council has said it recently lost its five-year land supply due to slow delivery by landowners and developers on some larger strategic sites.

It is currently consulting on preferred policy options  to inform a final draft of the new Local Plan.

"In the meantime, we will continue to do all we can within our limited powers to work with landowners and developers to encourage them to bring forward development on our allocated sites.”

David Mc Farlane, of Lioncourt, said: “40 per cent of the site will be affordable housing which is West Oxfordshire District Council policy and there will be some self-build homes there as well.

"There will be just over a hectare of open space. It’s a good location for homes in a village. Everything is within walking distance – sports pitches, North Leigh Football Club, the village hall, post office, public house and primary school. It also has very good transport links.

"We haven’t yet submitted a planning application. It will be down to councillors on the planning committee to weigh up the competing interests and decide whether it gets planning consent."