DETERMINED landowners say they are prepared to fight for as long as it takes to build low-cost homes in Chinnor.

DETERMINED landowners say they are prepared to fight for as long as it takes to build low-cost homes in Chinnor.

A scheme for 30 affordable homes, along with 21 detached houses, at the Thame Road junction on Mill Lane, Chinnor, hit a stumbling block when Chinnor parish councillors voted against it in July.

Government legislation says that all affordable schemes must be parish council-led.

The decision split the village between those who believe Chinnor will die without such housing and those who think the village could outgrow itself and eventually merge with the boundary of nearby Thame.

Jeffrey Emmett, planning coordinator for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, is confident most residents support the plan.

He said: 'We are happy to dig in for several years and wait until the parish council sees sense.

'We only lost by one vote and every time we receive a letter of objection we receive another three in favour.

'It is a case of the few that are dictating to the majority.'

The six-acre site was left by a Chinnor resident to the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust and the Coronary Artery Disease Research Association, with the condition that all profits from its sale went directly to the two charities.

Mr Emmett said: 'If the site is developed the money will go back into the community.'

Supporters argue that the plan would lead to improvements to Mill Lane crossroads, But some people living in Thame Road are against any building on the site.

Lyn Mumford, chairman of Chinnor Parish Council, said: 'When the plans, or a variation, are put forward again they will be discussed. There's no point opening another can of worms at the moment.'