More affordable homes for Upper Heyford

A greater proportion of affordable and smaller homes at a key site in Upper Heyford will make a new development there more accessible to local people says council.On Thursday, July 18, Cherwell District Council’s planning committee granted planning permission for 57 homes to be built across three parcels of land at the former RAF Upper Heyford.Officers will now negotiate financial contributions from the developer towards sports facilities, a community hall, amongst other public facilities and to mitigate the impact of traffic and improve transport as a condition of the planning permission.There will be 17 homes classed as affordable at the site, including homes supported by funding from the Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal. The decision permits a net increase of 41 homes, as 14 pre-existing bungalows associated with the site’s former military use have been demolished.Military use at RAF Upper Heyford ended in 1994 and this application follows on from the granting of an outline permission in 2010, allowing for 1,075 houses to be built across the wider site.The three areas covered by the decision are: Phase 5D south of Camp Road, where 11 homes are proposed; Phase 8C, adjacent to aircraft hangars north of Camp Road, where 15 affordable apartments are expected; and on Trenchard Circle, off Larsen Road, where 31 dwellings are proposed.It is part of a broader series of proposals designed to deliver housing, infrastructure and to improve the character of the former airbase.