Plans for garden village near Eynsham submitted

An outline planning application for the village, to the north of the A40 near Eynsham, has been lodged to West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC).

As well as the homes, Grosvenor Developments is looking to build new primary and secondary schools, sports facilities, parks and allotments.

In attempts to address the climate emergency, Grosvenor says 40 per cent of the site will remain undeveloped, with almost 10 acres of new woodland to be planted, while 20 per cent of the village’s energy demand will be met using renewable sources.

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A dedicated cycleway to Hanborough railway station is to be built to encourage green travel, while the entire site will use electricity for heating and hot water, which could help save up to 80 per cent of carbon emissions, compared with gas heating.

Meanwhile, approximately 14 acres of land will be used to build a science business park, in order to attract advanced manufacturing businesses.

Silvia Lazzerini, project director for strategic land at Grosvenor, said: “This application is the result of extensive dialogue with the community, council and stakeholders to make sure we understood and listened to local priorities and shaped our masterplan around them.

“The garden village presents a fantastic opportunity to deliver the homes that the area needs.

“It is also a chance to set a new benchmark for what a sustainable, deliverable development at scale can look like.

“From the outset, our vision has been to create a new community which respects the natural environment - a place where people and nature can not only live alongside one another, but actually thrive together.

“This outline masterplan is an early step on that journey to establish a neighbourhood that will grow and strengthen over time.”

The establishment of the garden village is seen as a key part of the West Oxfordshire Local Plan.

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At a district council meeting on July 29, the official name of the garden village will be unveiled, following a competition which generated more than 100 suggestions.

It is hoped that the garden village will gain access to funds to improve infrastructure, including upgrades to the A40.

Last week, with the application set to be submitted to WODC, Jeff Haine, cabinet member for strategic planning, said: “Public consultation and community engagement has been at the heart of this process since we lodged our bid with the Government for a garden village to be sited here.

“We intend to continue with that process of engagement as the planning process progresses.

“This is an exciting development which will help bring the garden village project to life in the not too distant future.”

The site was one of 14 garden villages endorsed by the Government in 2017 to tackle the country’s housing need, and is the largest to date for Grosvenor’s strategic land division, which aims to have a portfolio of at least 30,000 homes by 2023.