Last piece of Green Belt between Oxford and Kidlington threatened by ‘Supercomputer’ Science Park

Exeter College has announced plans to build a research and innovation district EXOq between the Peartree Interchange and Kidlington. This development will erode the last bit of Green Belt land between Oxford and Kidlington which is something we strongly oppose. Not only is it the countryside next door for over 166,000 Oxford residents, providing numerous mental and physical health benefits, but the Green Belt also plays a crucial role in nature recovery, climate mitigation and adaptation, as well as contributing to local food security. The piecemeal erosion of this finite and precious resource has a large cumulative effect which cannot be reversed.

The Green Belt exists to prevent urban sprawl. Sadly this has been forgotten by our planners and with the development allowed by the last Cherwell Local Plan and at the Triangle the sprawl will start just North of Kidlington a distance of 14 miles from the centre of Oxford with traffic congestion to match.  

We also have serious concerns over the lack of a strategic plan, given that no Local Plan is currently in place for Cherwell and there is much speculative development happening in a policy vacuum: Heyford Park, the proposed Rail Freight Interchange (NSIP), large-scale warehousing off the M40, the proposed French theme park Puy du Fou to name a few.

While there over 11,000 homes with planning permission in Cherwell which can’t be built due to lack of infrastructure, (sewage, water and transport) are there any guarantees that these issues won’t also affect this development?