Plans to expand a Bicester retirement home have been hit with parking and safety objections from residents and the town council. 

An application has been submitted to Cherwell District Council’s planning portal and, if approved, would see three more retirement apartments added to the already permitted 38-apartment redevelopment of Pakefield House and Fortescue House.

The proposals – covering the site in St Johns Street - also includes communal facilities, access, car parking and landscaping.

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The communal facilities will include a lodge manager employed by a management company to provide assistance and security for the owners of the apartments.

A video entry system linked to the owners’ television in their apartments, and an owners’ lounge will be provided as well, for use by residents and their guests.

There will be communal lifts, a toilet, landscaped garden, guest suite for use by relatives who wish to stay the night, and a car parking area.

The site will also accommodate mobility scooters and bicycles, as well as charging facilities, and a communal refuse store.

Bicester Town Council, along with several members of the public, have formally objected to the application.

A spokesperson for the town council said: “Bicester Town Council strongly objects to this planning application due to the height of the building and safety concerns.”

Householder Rachel Mostyn, who lives in Hailles Gardens, said: “There has been plenty of objections to building this totally unnecessary retirement home, when there are already plenty in Bicester.

"Especially when it involves knocking down good family homes. But it makes no difference as it gets passed anyway.

“The height of the building proposed is out of context and will now totally dominate the street. There are already huge parking issues here and the developer is now proposing extra flats.

“Which will only make the problem worse as there is not nearly enough parking to accommodate this building which also needs to factor in workers and visitors.”

The original 38-apartment retirement home proposals were submitted to the council in May 2021, however an appeal was lodged later that year by the applicant, Churchill Retirement Living, with the planning inspectorate.

The appeal was lodged on the grounds that the council had failed to make a decision on the development by the given date.

The appeal was granted permission by the Planning Inspectorate in October 2022.

The inspectorate concluded there was a significant shortfall in supply of deliverable housing land in the district of circa one-and-a-half-years.

The inspectorate further concluded the proposal would free up under-utilised, family housing in the area. As well as contributing to meeting the local housing needs in Cherwell, independence of living and health of older people in the district.

 

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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