6,000-home new “labour-style” town proposed
Plans to build a new 6,000-home town have been unveiled following many of the guidelines set out by the new Labour Government for its desired next-generation of large housing schemes.
This has been submitted by the developer Dorchester Living, who have submitted scoping requests to Cherwell District Council of Oxfordshire in advance of them preparing a planning application for this ambitious project.
This proposal would be set to become the largest housing project that Oxfordshire has seen.
Beyond just delivering a large number of new homes to county there are also plans to construct a school and a town center, which will host a hotel, dentist, barbers, pharmacy, and Sainsbury’s supermarket. Additionally, a wind turbine park is planned to be included.
The site is located 5 miles north-west of Bicester on the former RAF Upper Heyford Airfield, which has not been in use since 1993. In an effort to maintain the heritage of the site the hangars of the air base will be kept and turned into community, sport and commercial buildings.
Transportation is also kept at the heart of this proposal, with a new railway station to be built, as well as frequent bus routes and traffic-free greenways being included.
All of the above will be aiming to make the town as functional as possible from the very beginning, allowing potential residents access to any facilities they may need.
Paul Silver, Chief Executive of Dorchester Living said: “In recent weeks the new Government has made clear that it is committed to enabling a major house building and infrastructure programme to deliver the homes and facilities that the country needs.”
“A focus on brownfield-first development and the provision of high-quality, mixed-tenure homes sits at the heart of this, and we at Dorchester Living fully support its ambition and we are ready to play our role in helping to achieve it.”
“There can be few better examples of what can be achieved when you combine a large brownfield site with strategic plan making and the close cooperation and engagement of multiple stakeholders and the local community than Heyford Park.”
“Heyford Park is perfectly placed to accommodate more growth – being a disused airfield – and our masterplan would not only deliver thousands of new mixed-tenure homes, but also jobs, commercial space and major new sustainable transport infrastructure. Equally important, it would breathe new life into the site, which has a vibrant military past.”
Greg Williams, Head of Business Development at Compariqo, said: “This highly ambitious project could prove instrumental to the local area and Oxfordshire as a whole in tackling the worsening housing crisis.”
“Compariqo is keen to see how this develops and are here to offer our expert services along the way.”
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