Heyford Park Expansion Plans

Caulcott is situated 0.8 miles from the former RAF Upper Heyford airbase, separated by productive and cultivated farmland.

Over the past 15 years this former airbase has been developed, principally by Dorchester Living which has built 1,100 homes, with the local Neighbourhood Plan allowing for a further 2,400. Offering considerable brownfield development opportunity we support proportionate development on this land
whilst respecting the identity and integrity of the surrounding villages and settlements such
as Caulcott.

This concept is endorsed by the draft Cherwell District Council Local Plan 2042* which
created the concept of the Caulcott Gap to prevent coalescence of Heyford Park onto our
settlement and focus development where it had always been intended, onto the brownfield
land.

However Caulcott is now under existential threat from proposals from Dorchester Living to
build 9,000 new homes on and around Heyford Park with the intention of building one of the
new generation of New Towns. This is totally disproportionate with what the local landscape
and infrastructure can bear.

Development Proposal – Dorchester Living has submitted proposals to expand Heyford Park
– the former RAF Upper Heyford airbase – potentially housing more than 40,000+ people,
which would make it one of Oxfordshire’s largest settlements.

Their proposal involves building on the precious greenfield land in the Caulcott Gap causing
coalescence of our settlements, loss of our identity and puts us at considerable risk of
flooding.

The proposal (Ref: 25/02190/HYBRID) is currently under consideration by Cherwell District
Council. If approved, construction could begin as early as 2026. The proposed Heyford Park
expansion threatens to reshape the local area irreversibly.

* Regulation 19: https://www.cherwell.gov.uk/info/279/local-plan-2042-reg-19