RESIDENTS of Witney’s Burford Road got an unwelcome surprise last weekend when they received leaflets through their letterbox outlining proposals for 270 houses on their doorstep.

Developer Gladman Homes included maps and drawings as part of its initial public consultation but its questions were focused on what types of houses residents would like to see and whether they knew any first-time buyers or people looking for affordable homes.

All fair enough, except there was little mention of the flooding risk it could pose – other than a small image of a balancing pond, presumably intended to mitigate this – that it may spoil what one person called “the best view in Witney”, or whether those living nearby thought the basic idea of development on the site was a good one.

At a time when many communities are looking at ways of reducing the effects of flooding – an ever-present threat along the Windrush Valley in recent years, many feel that this development would make the problem worse.

It is essentially covering over land that currently helps to absorb rain. Changing this could be dangerous not only to the proposed houses but to residents in other parts of the town.

New housing, wherever it is proposed, is always a contentious issue and can often split public opinion. But there only seems to be a consensus of residents against this proposal.

Judging by their comments so far, the developer will only receive negative feedback from its public consultation.

With that in mind, it will be intriguing to see what happens next.