A PREVIOUSLY rejected plan for a new £40m retail park to include a Next, an M&S, and one un-named third store have been resubmitted.

Consolidated Property Group has put forward a new, altered application for a proposed Bicester Gateway Retail Park - despite being thrown out by councillors last year.

If approved, the complex would sit beside a second block to include a gym, a restaurant and 350 car parking spaces at the area west of Bicester Village near the Kingsmere Development, off Oxford Road.

The new park would create an additional 100 car parking spaces, around 200 jobs and provide improvements to the A41 carriageway in the form of widening the major road.

Martin Ridgway, Managing Director of Consolidated Property Group, said: “We believe this amended application addresses all the issues that became apparent through the appeal process.

"Importantly, we have gone back to the basics with the highways ensuring that there is a robust case and are committed to delivering a scheme that works.

“This development is an important £40 million investment for Bicester, creating jobs and allowing local residents to shop locally.

"Feedback from both M&S and Next shows that many Bicester shoppers drive to Banbury Gateway, Milton Keynes, Abingdon and further afield to visit their stores.”

A similar application for the project was submitted last year before being turned down in October 2015 owing to its impact on traffic.

Bicester councillor and mayor Jolanta Lis said although she welcomed some of the efforts in addressing traffic issues in the newest plans, those same concerns were unlikely to go away.

She said: “We have had a presentation from developers on the altered plans which are meant to address the traffic issues from last time.

“I personally am not convinced, though, that putting that development on the same part of Bicester is going to adequately address traffic concerns.

“Because we all know that that side of Bicester is already a busy and with Bicester Village growing with another 33 units.

“We are experiencing traffic issues at the moment.

“I know that the developers have done all they can. They have increased the number of parking spaces so I think that they are trying to address the issues.”

She added that she hadn’t yet heard the response from nearby residents but that some were certainly in favour of having new local amenities.

The application is yet to be validated by Cherwell District Council which will determine the application at a later date.