A few days ago the 120 or so documents outlining Puy du Fou’s plans to build a multi million annual visitor destination in the tiny village of Bucknell, Oxfordshire were published on the local authority’s planning portal.

For anyone who has missed the commotion so far, French amusement park operators Puy du Fou are proposing a tourist destination the size of Hyde Park on productive Oxfordshire farmland next to the noisy M40 and a frequently smelly incinerator (very atmospheric).

They wish to attract millions of visitors to an area that struggles to deal with normal traffic levels, doesn’t really need the employment (at the risk of sounding ungrateful, but them’s the naked Office of National Statistics facts) and is crying out for affordable homes, school places, GP appointments and dentists instead.

_{Source: ONS Annual Population Survey}

What to do about it?

Don’t wait and see. Look at the plans, and tell Cherwell District Council what you think the decision should be.

This doesn’t require you to read all 120-odd documents, look through them, comment on what catches your eye. What’s your ‘thing’? Traffic? Noise? Light pollution? Loss of nature, public access to green space, wildlife habitats? Don’t want buses clogging up the station you use every day? Worried about a lack of seats on trains if even more people pile on? Comment on the consultation and make your point.

The documents run into thousands of pages and were – so it seems – three years in the making, while locals are given six weeks to comment. Is this fair? You can comment on this too.

Consultation deadline: 10 October 2025

Respond to the consultation, here: https://planningregister.cherwell.gov.uk/Planning/Display/25/02232/OUT#undefined and click on ‘comment on this application’ at the top of the page:

If you prefer, you can write to the Planning Team: 39 Castle Quay, Banbury, OX16 5FD, citing reference 25/02232/OUT

If you need to speak with the Planning Team, their number is 01295 227006

Write to your local councillor with your concerns. Find yours here: https://modgov.cherwell.gov.uk/mgFindMember.aspx

Write to our MP, Calum Miller: calum.miller.mp@parliament.uk

Sign up to our updates – you can unsubscribe anytime – to stay informed on new developments on this and other planning applications.

Remember the context…

Our area in Oxfordshire is subject to an unreasonable amount of (proposed) development:

• 9,000 proposed homes at Heyford Park
• 7,750 proposed homes between NE Bicester and the village of Bucknell
• Oxford Strategic Rail Freight infrastructure at Ardley
• East-West Rail (Oxford to Cambridge) threatening to cut Bicester in two
• Giant warehousing projects near J9 and J10 M40
• Bicester Village expansion
• Great Wolf water park at Chesterton
• Puy du Fou tourist facility in the village of Bucknell

However – and this is important! – other developments are not taken into consideration when planning decisions are made. The cumulative effect of developments is real, but not a deciding factor in granting or refusing Puy du Fou’s application. You can, however, point this out when you write to your local councillor and MP.

Doing nothing is not an option

Don’t wait for someone else to do something about it – that person is you. Many voices are needed, and all of us need to do something to make our viewpoints known and insist they are taken into account.

Tell your neighbours, your friends, family and colleagues, your hairdresser, the chap behind you in the Aldi queue, the person in the seat next to you on the 7.52 into Oxford… and encourage them to submit their comments.

Don’t be silent. It is up to us to keep our area liveable.