One of England's largest villages becomes town

One of England's largest villages has officially become a town.

Kidlington Parish Council voted unanimously to change its status at a meeting on Thursday following a consultation with residents.

Councillor Melanie Moorhouse said the move would give the Oxfordshire community important extra protections in planning and policing decisions.

However, some residents told the BBC last year they opposed the change and had described the village as being "nice as it is".

Lifelong resident Jacquie Hobbs said: "It's always been a village and it's our village - all the people that have grown up here and know it as it is."

Janet O'Brien agreed and said: "I really think it should stay as a village - we've got enough big busy towns around here without having any more."

According to the 2021 census, the then-village's population was 13,600 - with expansion plans meaning that number could grow to between 30,000 and 40,000.

Kidlington Parish Council previously attempted to transition to town status in 1988 - but in a referendum residents voted overwhelmingly to remain a village.

But Moorhouse said the council had now voted for the change of status due to "changes in government policy that happened last year".

She said: "There were two pieces of government policy, the National Policing Guarantee and the National Planning Policy Framework that came out last year, that importantly give towns extra protections."

She said the first issue related to how police officers were allocated to town centres, while recent planning changes have downgraded green‑belt protection around villages to grey belt and increased protection around towns.

"By making a change of our status, we can give Kidlington those protections," the councillor said.

Moorhouse said the move would also give the town a "stronger voice" to "maintain its identity and community".

"I do want to stress, this doesn't mean that anyone has to start calling it a town - people can still say they're going to the village," she said.

"Our hope is very much that it will not change our community - it will in fact secure our very much community identity."

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