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Villagers battle 'nightmare' plans for 90 new homes

Chris McHugh
BBC News, Marsh Gibbon
BBC Patrina Needham, with shoulder-length brown hair and classes, leans on a metal gate with a field behind it, next to Mark Benzing who has short white hair, glasses and is wearing a large dark blue waterproof jacket. Both pose for a photo - Patrina is smiling and Mark looks more serious. BBC
Patrina Needham and Mark Benzing said Marsh Gibbon would not cope

A proposed housing development on the edge of a village has been described as a "nightmare" and "just too big" by residents.

Plans for Court Gate - which would see up to 90 new homes built to the north of Marsh Gibbon, near Bicester - were submitted to Buckinghamshire Council in March.

Residents said they had welcomed smaller development, Deanfield View, completed in 2022, which included a new village shop, but called the current plans "not logical".

Land promoter Catesby Estates said the area needed affordable homes and was a "sustainable location" for development.

Google A Google maps image of Marsh Gibbon, a medium-sized village with fields surrounding it. A red shaded area on the northern edge of the housing indicates where new homes would be built. Google
The planned Court Gate development would include 25% affordable homes and significant public space, according to the developer.

Parish councillor Mark Benzing said he was not opposed to the village's expansion in principle, but that it was about "proportion".

"It's about 'how many [people] can we take, how many houses should be built'," he said.

Resident Patrina Needham said the development was unrealistic, and that the village's infrastructure would struggle to cope.

She added: "It's practically impossible to build it. The sewage cannot cope with the capacity.. It's just not logical.

"We understand the pressure that councils are under... [but] loss of village identity, loss of community... are still very important in our countryside."

A woman smiles for the camera with green fields and a metal gate behind her. Sam Whicker is wearing a black and white hooped jumper, with a multicoloured winter coat over the top. She has brown and blond long hair which sits on her shoulders.
Sam Whicker said she and her family would "consider moving" if the development was built

Sam Wicker, who has lived in the village for five years, said Marsh Gibbon was "like a little family".

"We like the community spirit, we like that everybody is close-knit... we've got that country feel," she said.

She said a development in 2022 had been a positive addition to the village, but the Court Gate proposals were excessive.

She continued: "So much is going to change. The roads cannot deal with even more houses... It's a nightmare to the extent that we would consider moving."

In a statement, Catesby Estates said: "The rate of new housing development has not met the growing demand.

"Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, new homes constructed in Buckinghamshire decreased by 53%, leading to a widening gap between housing supply and population growth.

It said the plans delivered affordable housing, and Marsh Gibbon's size, location, and transport links made it a "sustainable" location for new homes.

"At the end of July 2024, there were 6,857 live applications on the housing register, Bucks Home Choice, an increase of 530 compared to March of the same year," it said.

The planning application is currently awaiting a decision by Buckinghamshire Council. The authority has been approached for comment.

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