[dropcap type =”circle”]A[/dropcap] large hotel and almost 15,000 square metres of employment space are set for development in south west Bicester following a planning decision.
Cherwell District Council’s planning committee approved outline permission for phase one of the proposed Bicester Gateway business park, which is expected to create new job opportunities.
The application site is a triangular area of land between the A41 and the Wendlebury Road, to the south west of Bicester. It sits mostly within a wider area covered by Policy Bicester 10 of Cherwell’s adopted Local Plan, designated for the support of knowledge-based industry.
Andy Preston, Cherwell’s head of development management, said: “The Bicester Gateway business park has an important role to play in securing employment for the town’s residents as Bicester grows.
“We consider the hotel to be an appropriate feature of the proposal as it should help attract and facilitate business interest and investment not only on this site, but throughout the wider Bicester 10 allocation. It also has the potential to help meet an existing deficiency in overnight accommodation.
“With this decision, members have agreed to the principle and scale of the development on this site. The detail and layout of the business park have yet to be decided and would be subject to an application for full planning permission.”
The hotel would provide up to 149 bedrooms and the employment site would comprise 14,972 square metres of land permitted for class B1 uses such as offices, research and development and light industrial use.
The permission is subject to the satisfactory completion of a legal agreement with Oxfordshire County Council to secure a number of highways/transport requirements and is also subject to the satisfactory resolution of some outstanding concerns regarding ecological implications.
There are several conditions regarding transport infrastructure, including a car park management plan, and plans for the provision of infrastructure including a bus stop, cycleway and mini-roundabout system. These must all be approved by Cherwell before development can begin.
For more information on this application, please search www.cherwell.gov.uk for application no. 16/02586/OUT
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