New plans lodged to build 6,000 homes on largest housing project in county near Bicester

Applicant Dorchester Living Limited would like to construct the new houses in Upper Heyford, a former Oxfordshire Royal Air Force base five miles away from Bicester.

As well as up to 6,000 homes, the plans include up to 200 assisted living houses, 20,000 sqm of new-build office space, 5,000 sqm of new-build industrial space, and 15,000 sqm of new-build storage.

Original planning permission granted at Heyford Park was for 1,175 new homes, approved in September 2022, but the new plans lodged mark an almost six-fold increase.

Responding to the proposal, the Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan Forum (MCNP) said: “A central objective of the MCNP has always been to avoid the loss of countryside and damage to the rural setting of our villages.

“The Forum has already expressed its opposition to building on greenfield land adjacent to Heyford Park, and has serious concerns about the scale of Dorchester’s greatly increased ambitions for the town, not least because of the impact of traffic on our country lanes.

“We hope to be able to maintain constructive discussions with Dorchester Living.”

Work is not expected to start on the “ambitious” development until 2040 and refusal of the application is likely to trigger an appeal.

The application site covers an area of approximately 493.5 hectares and wraps around the majority of the northern extent of the former RAF base land.

The nearest existing residential developments are within the newly constructed residential development on the former RAF base.

The former Air Base was owned by the Ministry of Defence that was leased by the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1960s until 1994 and is now in the control of the applicant.

An Environmental Impact Assessment has been submitted by the developer which awaits review.

In a planning paper, the developer states: “The historic and cultural heritage of the site has been fully embraced within the ongoing development of the site, with the creation of heritage parkland, interpretation of Heyford Park story and investment into key structures across the site.”

Between 2011 and 2021 the population of Cherwell grew by 13.7 per cent.

This compares to population growth of 7.4 per cent in the South East and 5.9 per cent in Great Britain.

Burial spaces in Bicester only remain for families who have previously purchased plots and due to the high water table, further expansion of the town’s cemetery has been branded “impossible” by Liberal Democrat district and town councillor John Willet.