ANGRY residents in a South Oxfordshire village say they feel "betrayed" by plans to allow 3,500 homes to be built there.

The development on the 144-hectare Chalgrove Airfield has been suggested by planning officials to help address the housing crisis Oxford.

But people in the neighbouring village say it will destroy their way of life and are calling for the homes to be built on the edge of the city instead.

Jackie Nabb, 65, said South Oxfordshire District Council should have supported development on land south of Grenoble Road, near Oxford United's Kassam Stadium, even though it is in the Green Belt.

The mother-of-one, who is chairwoman of the village's neighbourhood plan group, added: "This is a rural place. People live here because they want to live in a village, and the district council is supposed to protect that. But this development will destroy our way of life and destroy the community.

"We feel betrayed. People think this is a political decision by the district council to avoid building at Grenoble Road."

Parish councils in Chalgrove, Watlington, Shirburn, Cuxham, Great Haseley, Great Milton and Stadhampton united this week to call the airfield site "highly unsuitable for intense development".

Building the new homes next to Chalgrove would also require enormous spending on infrastructure and worsen flood risk, said Chalgrove parish and district councillor David Turner.

He added: "People here know more homes are needed and we have been working on a neighbourhood plan for 200.

"We were comfortable with that, but 3,500 homes would just destroy the village and our way of life.

"It would take our population from about 2,900 to something like 14,000 – that is a huge increase."

He added: "I understand the sensitivity around the Green Belt, but Grenoble Road is so obviously the right place for this housing."

The district council is currently consulting on its latest local plan proposals and has listed Chalgrove Airfield as the preferred site for the 3,500 homes.

The documents say it was chosen because it is outside the Green Belt – land set aside to restrict the growth of cities – and the scheme can be delivered by the government-backed Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), which the Ministry of Defence is due to transfer the land to.

In the frame as an alternative is 500 hectares of land south of Junction 7 of the M40, also outside the Green Belt.

The district council considered Grenoble Road, which has long been championed by Oxford City Council, but rejected it as an option.

John Cotton, leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: "As a site Chalgrove has a lot going for it, but road access is limited and we have told the HCA it is something they need to solve.

"Do we think Grenoble Road is a sustainable location for housing? No, we do not.

"We understand this proposal would change the nature of Chalgrove and that people may want us to look elsewhere, but we have to look at the bigger picture."

The consultation on the district council's preferred options for development ends on August 19.