Remember that 2007 plan to cram 900 houses on a field in Caverfield that was thrown out as ‘unnecessary’ by the planning committee? The one the committee described as inappropriate, because “the proposed development would result in the introduction of a large urban extension into the open countryside beyond the built up areas of both Caversfield and Bicester”, that one?

Well, it’s back, tentatively at least.

What’s the proposal this time?

In February 2025 Gladman Developments Ltd submitted a Scoping Application* signalling their intention

to apply to Cherwell District Council (hereafter CDC) for outline planning permission to develop around 900 dwellings, land for a primary school, a local centre, land for a fire station, and public open space at Land at Dymock’s Farm, Caversfield, Bicester.

^{Gladman Developments Ltd, Land at Dymock’s Far, Caversfield, Bicester EIA Scoping Report, p1.}

Something stands out when we look at the wording. ‘Land for’ features twice, referring to a primary school and a fire station. This means the developers are reserving those parcels for those purposes. Do they mean that someone else can build those?

Reports such as these tend to be very carefully worded. The authors know these reports become publicly accessible for all eternity once they press send. So, if something is missing from a report, it’s a clue.

Strikingly similar

The eye-catching part of this scoping application is of course that, regardless of what the 2007 planning committee considered to be inappropriate about the proposals then, this proposal includes the exact same number of dwellings:

The proposed development will comprise around 900 dwellings, a 2 ha site for a primary school, a 0.5 ha local centre (use class E: commercial, business and service), a 0.4 ha site for a fire station, public open space and associated infrastructure.

^{Gladman Developments Ltd, Land at Dymock’s Far, Caversfield, Bicester EIA Scoping Report, p3.}

Another reason the 2007 proposal was rejected had to do with access, which was deemed inadequate then. The new proposals have this to say:

Vehicular access to the site will be provided from the A4421 to the east and Fringford Road to the west. Pedestrian and cycle links will be provided through the site and the existing public footpath in the south will be retained.

^{Gladman Developments Ltd, Land at Dymock’s Far, Caversfield, Bicester EIA Scoping Report, p3.}

As we all know, the local infrastructure hasn’t been dramatically transformed since 2007. Traffic volumes will likely be higher than they were 18 years ago, if only because quite a bit of development has taken place in the area since then.

Where to find the application

You can find the full scoping application on CDC’s planning portal:

25/00439/SCOP

For comparison, you can find the withdrawn-because-it-was-refused 2007 application here:

07/00225/OUT

And this is the 29 page committee report detailing why the 2007 application was refused:

Officer Report [opens as a .tif document]

Action you can take

If you would like to have your say on the proposals, you can do so on CDC’s planning portal:

Comment on application

If you prefer, you can also email the planning officer on planning@cherwell-dc.gov.uk quoting reference number 25/00439/SCOP.

Tip!

Check back on the portal to see if your comment – support or objection – has been added. This may take a few days. If it hasn’t been added after a week, email the planning team to enquire what is causing the delay. This is especially important if there is a deadline for comments.

* _{A scoping application precedes a detailed proposal to obtain outline planning permission. It serves to test whether it is a viable project to pursue before investing time and resources in submitting a full proposal.}