Bicester Heritage’s ambitious plans for a 344-room hotel on its 425-acre site has received unanimous planning approval.
The landmark hotel, conference and leisure centre will be in the top 15 of the largest UK hotels outside London. It’s a huge step forward in an overall plan to create an automotive resort and event venue that will include a handling circuit, garages with accommodation and a future technology and engineering cluster.
Featuring an expansive four-storey atrium, restaurant and bar, courtyard, gym, swimming pool and spa, the hotel will encourage a wide range of visitors to Oxfordshire across the business and leisure sectors, as well as bringing in a projected 250,000 visitors per annum and creating an estimated 180 full-time jobs. Bicester Heritage has also been highlighted as a key player in the Oxford-Cambridge ‘growth corridor’ and seeks to provide the required business accommodation and high-tech conferencing facilities required for this.
The conservation-led development will utilise materials inspired by the existing pre-war RAF buildings, with the structure mimicking the shapes of the existing hangars.
Dan Geoghegan, Managing Director of Bicester Heritage, commented: “The unanimous approval by the Planning Authority demonstrates the strength of local government support for our vision. It also reflects the high esteem in which Bicester Heritage is held alongside its national importance to the automotive sector.”
“The hotel will be at the vanguard of a new lifestyle-driven masterplan to provide a motoring experience worthy of the modern era.”
