Go-ahead for RAF Upper Heyford airbase development
Go-ahead for RAF Upper Heyford airbase development
Go-ahead for RAF Upper Heyford airbase development
Plans to develop a former Cold War air base in Oxfordshire have been approved after a 15-year battle between developers and tenants.
RAF Upper Heyford has been lying dormant since American airforce planes left in the early 90s.
Councillors have approved plans for more than 1,000 new homes, incorporating old military bungalows.
They say it should end years of uncertainty for the hundreds of people who rent them.
Cherwell district councillor James MacNamara said: "People have been living here on one month's notice for ten years or more.
"They've formed a really strong community.
"There's a great residents' association. It's really good news because it gives people certainty."
One resident told the BBC: "I don't think the uncertainty is over yet because we haven't actually been told we can stay in our houses.
"I know they said they'd give us priority, but that could mean all sorts of things."
The application for 1,075 homes was submitted by the Dorchester Heyford Park Group.
Patricia Kirby, chairman of Heyford Park Residents' Association, said: "They want to create a village as opposed to a housing estate.
"We will have a school here which will be great for families. We will have a pub and a cricket pitch."
