The housing secretary has upheld South Oxfordshire district council’s decision to reject a planning appeal on the grounds that the size of the development would exceed housing requirements outlined in the area’s local plan.

The report states that Cholsey has already identified land for 690 new homes, compared to the 612 required to meet projected growth levels.

Therefore, the planning decision states that the additional 350 homes and 80 extra-care dwellings proposed by developer JT Leavesley would be “demonstrably an unsustainable level of growth”.