Find, save and share Public Notices that affect you in the area.
Search the Public Notice Portal What is the Public Notice Portal?What is the Public Notice Portal?
The Public Notice Portal carries statutory public notices published in local newspapers and is the fastest and most effective way of finding out what is happening in YOUR neighbourhood.
Search the Public Notice PortalEarly-stage plans for 1,000 homes outside an Oxfordshire town have been branded “opportunistic” with fears raised that it could “swallow up” nearby villages.
The homes would be built on agricultural land west of Bicester, between the A41 and Blackthorn Road, with the Chiltern Main Line railway running through it.
An 80-bed care home, a local centre and open space would also be included in the development.
A scoping opinion application was recently submitted by developer Vistry to Cherwell District Council.
READ MORE: Man charged with stabbing at Oxford university accommodation
The site is next to another development off Wretchwick Way, which includes 1,500 homes, up to seven hectares of employment land, a local centre with retail and community use, and a primary school.
Outline planning permission for this development was approved in May 2022, and the site was acquired by a developer last year.
A spokesperson for North Oxfordshire Residents Action (NORA) said: “This is yet another opportunistic proposal showing little or no care for existing communities such as Launton and Blackthorn which are simply being swallowed by Bicester.
“Once again, a developer proposes building on productive farmland, next to a development for 1,500 homes and amenities, the Wretchwick Way development, which is also planned on agricultural land and destroying green space, natural habitats and the open landscape Oxfordshire is known for.”
Works on Wretchwick Way site are scheduled to begin in 2027.
They group added that the map provided omits several large-scale developments proposed near Bicester, including Puy du Fou theme park and the new town at Heyford Park.
“The cumulative effect of large developments around Bicester on utilities and access to the road network will have daily impacts on locals and visitors to the area as traffic tries to find alternative routes and utilities scramble to provide services.
“No thought is given to how the road system will cope, and as anyone who uses the A41 will know it is a road that frequently snarls up and is in need of urgent repairs and improvement.”
The group launched a campaign urging for a proper assessment of the combined impacts of all the developments planned for the area, and for this to take place before more developments come forward.
Calum Miller, MP for Bicester and Woodstock, said: “Our area does need more genuinely affordable homes for local people and young families, including more social housing.
“But too often in our area, housing is coming forward without the infrastructure needed to support it.
“At the same time, due to failures in infrastructure like a shortage of electricity supply, consented homes are not being built.
“This opens the door to speculative development on sites that were not deemed appropriate when the local plan was drawn up.
“With this proposal adjacent to other major developments nearby and on the outskirts of Bicester's built area, ministers and planners must take the cumulative impact seriously.
“Roads, health services, schools and utilities need to be delivered in step with growth, not years afterwards.”
The purpose of a scoping opinion application is to ask that the council define the specific topics needed for an environmental impact assessment.
Vistry was contacted for comment.
Share