Following a lengthy period of consultation with the local community, conservation specialist City & Country Group has submitted its plans to restore the former Domestic Site, Skimmingdish Lane, Caversfield – more recently known as the MOD Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S).
City & Country Group’s proposals will preserve the 17 historic Grade II Listed buildings on the site and bring them back into long-term use through sensitive restoration and careful conversion into 160 homes, ranging from apartments to semi-detached and detached houses. A further 27 new buildings will be sensitively added to the site, including a café/shop facility near the main entrance to the site on Skimmingdish Lane, which will be conveniently located to cater to local residents living both on and near the site.
The plans brought forward by City & Country Group will also increase the overall green space on the site by 10% through the transformation of the existing car parks on the site into attractively designed landscaped recreational spaces with tree and shrub plantings. A number of measures to enhance the biological diversity around the site have also been proposed.
Following discussions with Cherwell District Council and English Heritage, City & Country Group has also agreed to retain Building 50, one of the site’s two decontamination centres, in its current condition and make it available for organised group visits. The building remains one of the least altered buildings on the site internally, with many of its original fixtures and fittings intact, and is a rare surviving example of its type in the UK.
City & Country Group’s plans have evolved out of a five-month consultation process with the local community, beginning with an initial two-day public exhibition event held on the site in September 2010. At this event, attendees identified the most popular choice as being a residential solution for the site, among a range of potential suggested uses such as a business park and a hotel or hostel.
Following this event, City & Country Group has held a series of meetings and presentations with a number of key local stakeholders to help shape the proposals, including Caversfield Parish Council, Bicester Town Council, and the 2507 (Bicester) Squadron ATC, culminating in a second consultation event in early December 2010.
The plans for the site were drawn up by an experienced team including conservation architects Feilden & Mawson, who have worked on numerous internationally recognised Grade I, Grade II and Grade II* listed buildings, including Trafalgar Square and Somerset House, and landscaping architects Grants Associates, who are specialists in shaping sustainable landscapes with distinctive character, such as Bath Western Riverside and the Sterling Prize-winning Accordia in Cambridge.
Helen Moore, Managing Director of City & Country Residential, said:
“We are delighted to have submitted our restoration plans for the former Domestic Site. Despite the unique challenges presented by this former military site, our expert team has delivered an innovative solution that is sensitive to the site’s heritage while bringing it back into long term use, so that this important heritage asset can be protected for future generations.
“From the very beginning of this project, our priorities have been to prevent further deterioration of the historic buildings, and to ensure that our proposals reflect the aspirations of local residents. Based on the feedback received from the public and important stakeholder groups over recent months, we believe our proposals will breathe fresh life into the site, add a new layer of history and become an important part of the local community.”
City & Country’s application can be viewed on Cherwell District Council’s Planning Applications database (http://cherweb.cherwell-dc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/weeklylist_searchform.aspx) or at the council’s offices, using the application reference number 11/00151/F.