Alpine F1 team plan temporary car park in Oxfordshire

Plans have been submitted for the construction of a temporary staff car park on the land owned by Oathill Farm to the west of the Whiteways Technical Centre in Enstone near Chipping Norton.

The former quarry site, off an unclassified road called Tew Lane, became an F1 engineering site in the 1990s.

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The plans look to “maintain current parking numbers” during periods of “site development” over the next three years.

Around 250 parking spaces would be provided by the temporary car park for staff members at the centre.

The Whiteways Technical Centre employs approximately 850 staff base and has around 650 car parking spaces.

The field could be used as a temporary car park (Image: West Oxfordshire District Council) A planning statement reads: “The existing site is currently subject to several ‘live’ development proposals which result in construction and contractor’s traffic being located at multiple locations around the site.

“This is both inefficient and inconvenient for the operation of the site, both for employees and ongoing construction activities.

“As such, it is therefore proposed to consolidate construction and contractor traffic into a single area within the existing staff car park, and in doing so, will require the construction and use of the temporary staff car park for a period of up to three years.”

Last September, West Oxfordshire District Council granted planning permission for a two-storey extension linked to its existing ESO Building at its base at Whiteways Technical Centre in Enstone near Chipping Norton.

The old gym in a timber-clad building which is nearing the end of its life will be demolished.

The extension will contain an improved replacement gymnasium and welfare facilities, office space, laboratories and storage space. 

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There will be undercroft car parking for nine vehicles, solar panels on the roof and a new roof access, rooflights and a roof-mounted plant area.

In June Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took a 24 per cent stake in the team.

Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds The actors, who are also co-owners of Wrexham FC, were among investors who ploughed in 200 million dollars.

Alpine Racing was formerly known as the Renault F1 Team but was rebranded in 2021 to promote Renaut’s sports car brand, Alpine.

That year, they also signed two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso but he moved to Aston Martin for the 2023 season.

Since rebranding in 2021, the team has managed one victory and three podium finishes with Esteban Ocon coming third in Monaco last season.

Esteban Oco, who joined Alpine in 2020, announced earlier this month that he will leave the Oxfordshire-based team at the end of the current Formula One season.

The 27-year-old picked up both his and the team’s first Grand Prix victory in Hungary in 2021.

It comes after he was handed a five-place grid penalty for the Canadian Grand Prix after a collision with team-mate Pierre Gasly – who is also out of contract at the end of this season – on the opening lap of the recent race in Monaco.