The majority of councillors on Acton Turville Parish Council are in favour of a new housing development despite villagers voting against it.

Three of the five councillors, chair Chris Farrell, vice-chair Sybil Haddrell and Sally Smith, back a plan to bring 17 new homes to Hollybush farm.

This is despite villagers voting 114-103 against the planning application in a survey issued by the council last year.

The Badminton Estate want to convert four barns into nine homes and build eight new houses on land at the south of the village.

An original application sought to only to create seven new homes through three barn conversions.

The application has attracted a raft of comments, the vast majority of which are objections, with some slamming the development as ‘detrimental and dangerous’.

In their official response to the application the parish council highlighted numerous concerns, including about road safety, stating: “There is NOTHING in the current application which gives the Parish Council any comfort that traffic will not increase to the detriment of all residents.”

However, they stopped short of objecting to the application outright, as campaigners had hoped they would.

In an emotive response to the application Chris Farrell said: “Acton Turville cannot ‘exist in a bubble’. Whilst we enjoy a quiet country atmosphere, if nothing changes the village will stagnate and die.”

Toby Evans, a parish councillor who has declared an interest in the application and has therefore not taken part in council discussions, objected to the plans.

He said: “There is no proven need for additional homes on this scale in Acton Turville.

Mr Evans also expressed concern about the access road that would be built off the B4039 Burton Road.

“This will make the new junction extremely dangerous,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Badminton Estate said: “The development is centred on old farm buildings which are redundant and have been empty for a considerable period.

“The village has not experienced any new development for at least 40 years and the introduction of a range of new housing will help the affordability of housing within the village and enhance community cohesion.”