The medical group behind a failed super surgery has said the project may have been saved if the council were quicker with giving planning permission.

A spokesperson for Alchester Medical Group, one of the two groups due to relocate their GP practices to the new facility at Graven Hill, in Bicester, has said there were delays in reaching agreements on planning and land purchase with the council.

The spokesperson added Graven Hill Village Development Company (GHVDC) and Cherwell District Council (CDC) “played a large part in the failure to be able to move forward at the right time.”

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They added: “The project was ultimately abandoned because the NHS and Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire Integrated Care Board (BOBICB) were not able to adequately fund it, and that was partly caused by delays in getting the council and its Graven Hill development company to give the necessary full planning consent.”

According to the spokesperson, the NHS agreed a funding formula for the project in November 2020, and then in summer 2021 a planning application was submitted to the council.

They added: “It took the council longer than expected to put the application before its planning committee.

“It had been expected the proposals would be seen by the committee in August 2021, but they didn’t get looked at until January last year.

“In February last year, the planning committee approved the development but assigned an officer from the council to work to grant full planning consent.

“The full consent was not given as swiftly as the developers, Assura PLC, expected.

"They had intended to start work on site in April last year with full planning approval in place.

“By summer last year full consent had still not been given and the GPs and the developer formally advised the council in a letter that the project was in jeopardy if it could not start soon.

“Various factors with the council and its development company contributed to continue the delay in reaching an agreement throughout the rest of 2022.”

Earlier this year, NHS and the developers reached an impasse over funding.

NHS commissioners were not able to find the additional funding required, and the 2020 funding agreement was no longer sufficient.

A spokesperson at Cherwell District Council said, “We have worked closely with the applicant over the last couple of years doing all we can to help.

"Most recently in July 2022, we brought an urgent report that would be granted subject to a legal agreement to address access and biodiversity issues to planning committee.

"This was in light of developer concerns about rising build costs and the need to reach an agreement with a contractor by the end of July.

“To ensure the legal agreement progressed smoothly, officers were granted the authority to continue negotiations with the developer. However, this agreement could not be reached."

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1