A large pond coming to an Oxfordshire village will "not have an impact on the character of the area", according to planning officials.
The Vale of White Horse District Council has approved the 1,200sqm development in Sparsholt, three miles west of Wantage.
It will be dug to a depth of two metres with 20 degree sloping sides and pockets of variation to "provide high levels of diversity".
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Proposed site plan for the pond. (Image: Vale of White Horse District Council.)
The applicant, Sparsholt Manor Farm, said the pond would lie "within a newly planted woodland creation scheme, which will further enhance the biodiversity of the area and provide a fresh water habitat".
A district council report stated: "Whilst the pond will be large, it would not harm the character or appearance of the wider landscape."
There are no objections listed from Sparsholt Parish Council, Kingston Lisle Parish Council, drainage and ecology officers or Oxfordshire Public Rights of Way.
Proposed elevations for the pond. (Image: Vale of White Horse District Council.)
The pond will be "fed via natural rainfall and surface runoff from surrounding pastureland" and the soil removed to create the required depth is to be "used around to create grass sown banks around the pond edge".
It is not clear why the applicant has come forward with plans for their "large pond".
Sparsholt. (Image: Vale of White Horse District Council.)
But officers say there are no residential properties that will be affected in the area, and the proposal does not require formal highway access or parking.
Sparsholt is a village and civil parish about three miles west of Wantage.
It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.
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