Bicester unveiled as new ‘Garden City’!

Following the news of the return of the ‘garden city’, with plans to develop Ebbsfleet in Kent, it has also now been announced that Bicester will become the second in a new wave of garden cities , creating 13,000 new homes and many job opportunities.

This will mean a further 13,000 new homes, significant infrastructure improvements and around 21,500 new jobs in Bicester and the surrounding area. Large swathes of brown  field MOD land is the planned location for much of  the development, easing the pressure to develop local green field sites.

Under the garden city initiative, a series of new communities with green spaces, sustainable transport and spacious homes will be built, costing as much as £100 million, largely from public spending and loans, hopefully supplying the need for more housing in the area.

Local MP Sir Tony Baldry was fully behind the proposals stating, “I very much welcome the proposal that Bicester should become a Garden City. People want to live where they work and I think everyone is agreed that there is a need for a substantial number of new houses in Oxfordshire between now and 2031.”

Residents though have immediately taken to social media to express their concerns regarding the impact to local infrastructure and traffic levels, already seen to be a real inconvenience to local residents. Many also were concerned that while there were significant housing and infrastructure improvements, were there going to be enough jobs in Bicester to cope with the increase in residents.