Oxfordshire, DCO Application For Rail Freight Interchange & Road Works

Oxfordshire Railfreight Limited

SECTION 48 PLANNING ACT 2008 REGULATION 4 INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING (APPLICATIONS: PRESCRIBED FORMS AND PROCEDURE) REGULATIONS 2009 (AS AMENDED) THE OXFORDSHIRE RAIL FREIGHT INTERCHANGE AND HIGHWAYS ORDER 202X NOTICE PUBLICISING A PROPOSED APPLICATION FOR A DEVELOPMENT CONSENT ORDER

Notice is hereby given that Oxfordshire Railfreight Limited ("the Applicant") of 2nd Floor Gaspeé House 66-72 Esplanade St Helier Jersey JE1 1GH proposes to apply to the Secretary of State (via the Planning Inspectorate) under Section 37 of the Planning Act 2008 for a Development Consent Order ("DCO") to authorise the construction, operation, use and maintenance of a new rail freight interchange, warehousing and associated infrastructure and junction at the Main Site in the locality of Heyford, southwest of Junction 10 of the M40 motorway, east of the former Upper Heyford Former Air Base, together with highway improvement works to Junction 10 of the M40, the provision of a bypass to Ardley and a relief road for Middleton Stoney and a new Heyford Park Link Road in Oxfordshire (the "Application").

The Application is considered to require an Environmental Impact Assessment and therefore the Application will be accompanied by an Environmental Statement.

The proposed DCO will, amongst other things, authorise the construction, operation and use and maintenance of:

• A rail freight terminal served via new connections to the Chiltern Main Line Railway (part of the Strategic Rail Freight Network), including container storage.

• Works within the landfill area adjacent to the Chiltern Main Line Railway to allow a rail connection into the Main Site.

• Works to the Ardley tunnel to provide W8 gauge through the tunnel.

• Up to 603,850 sq.m. (approx. 6.5 million square feet) of distribution and logistics (use class B8) floorspace, including ancillary office accommodation, plus up to 201,283 sq.m. of additional floorspace in the form of mezzanines.

• Demolition of existing structures and new earthworks to create development platform to accommodate distribution buildings and associated yard and parking areas, drainage attenuation features, and extensive perimeter earthworks bunding which will form part of the screening (landscapes and visual mitigation) of the proposed development;

• Improvements to Junction 10 of the M40 involving works on the A43 east of the M40, new slip roads to and from the M40, and including an Ardley Bypass to the east of Ardley which will also form a new site access road to the Main Site.

• A Heyford Park Link Road which runs from Camp Road south-east of Heyford Park and south of the proposed development to a new junction on the B430.

• A Middleton Stoney Relief Road around the north-eastern side of the village extending from a new junction on the B430 to the existing B4030 which links over the M40 to the principal access to the Main Site via the new Ardley Bypass and from a new roundabout on the B430 in the north-eastern corner of the Main Site, south of the railway line. This primary access will serve all HGV traffic accessing the site. A secondary access into the Main Site for public buses, train and cycles will be via the Heyford Park Link Road as described and will include new signalised highway works to be carried out in connection with the improvement of J9 of the M40 motorway.

• Additional highway works to be carried out at the junction of Camp Road and Chilgrove Drive, Middleton Road, the B4030 east of the Main Site, Quarry Cottages, Middleton Stoney Crossroads and areas in between including potential improvements to the B4030/Empire Road junction and the B4030/A4095/Vendee Drive/Middleton Stoney Road roundabout.

• Measures to enable and encourage sustainable travel, including improvements and new connections to Public Rights of Way, and provision of new foot and cycle links to and within the site, as well as on site links to enable bus connection to serve the Main Site via the secondary access to the site from the Heyford Park Link Road.

• Demolition of the Grade II listed Threshing Barn at Ashgrove Farm as part of a ‘hub’ of shared and communal facilities for employees and other users of the Main Site, as well as the retention of the Ashgrove Cottages for rail and estate management related activities.

• Retained key landscape features and new landscaping and planting, including on the proposed earthwork bunds within the Main Site, as part of a comprehensive landscaping and green infrastructure scheme across all elements of the proposed development, including habitat creation to deliver a net gain in biodiversity.

• Associated infrastructure and engineering works including surface and foul drainage, and utilities, including a foul drainage outfall.

The Applicant will be undertaking its second stage of consultation from 23 September until 4 November 2025 and a copy of a draft preliminary environmental information report, draft plans and other draft documents showing the nature and location of the proposed development may be inspected from 23 September 2025 free of charge on the Applicant's website www.oxsrfi.co.uk

and at the following locations during the hours set out below:

1. Cherwell District Council, 39 Castle Quay, Banbury, OX16 5FD (Opening Times: 08:45 – 17:15 Monday to Friday); and

2. Bicester Library, Franklins House, Wesley Lane, Bicester, OX26 6JU (Opening Times: Monday 09:30 – 19:00, Tuesday 09:30 – 17:00, Wednesday 09:30 – 19:00, Thursday 09:30 – 19:00, Friday 09:30 – 17:00, Saturday 09:00 – 16:30).

The documents relating to the proposed Application will be on display at the above locations from 23 September to 4 November 2025. Copies of the plans, map and documents can be provided on USB or via a file sharing website link free of charge to those without reasonable internet access and in paper format at a small printing charge (50p per A4 sheet, 75p per A3 sheet and if plans are requested at a larger scale, a charge of £5 per plan will be made). Cases of hardship will be considered on their individual basis and the Applicant may use their discretion on whether or not to charge for hard copies.

Responses or representations in respect of the Proposed Application should be sent in writing to the Applicant at consultation@oxsrfi.co.uk or by post to ‘Freepost OxSFRI’ no later than 11:59pm on 4 November 2025. The comments can also be made on the Applicant's website, using the comments form or using a hardcopy form (available from the project phone line, by email or by telephoning: 01865 986100).

Please ensure that all responses are sent to the Applicant only (these are not formal representations to the Planning Inspectorate). Formal representations will be invited only if the Application is accepted for examination.