Sir – Further to the reporting of the rejection further commercial development off the A41, dissenters might consider the following.

Bicester Village continues to expand displacing the Tesco Superstore to the opposite side of what is soon to become an inner urban ring road. The resurrection of the Oxford to Bletchley rail service and the proposed timetable will virtually close access to Bicester town via the B4100 redirecting traffic onto the ring road.

However, travelling the ring road anti-clockwise from the Rodney House roundabout drivers will encounter the same B4100 problem, for the Oxford to Bletchley railway line crosses that road near Launton.

Drivers wishing to avoid delays caused by level-crossing closures will travel clockwise from the Rodney House roundabout resulting in traffic congestion at the A41, (Tesco), roundabout. Add to this Bicester Village traffic on high-days, holidays and weekends and Bicester has a serious traffic problem. This will persuade many village shoppers and visitors to the South of the town to spend their money elsewhere.

It is a universal 21st-century law that no matter how many car parking spaces are provided, there will always be an excess of cars to occupy them. Bicester’s experience of the existing retail park has demonstrated that maxim many times.

Couple this with the loss of an in-town car park thanks to the construction of a civic building that includes a hotel with no dedicated parking facilities. The effect of this seemingly un-joined-up thinking on the part of planning authorities is choking Bicester’s commercial centre to death.

Do those approving local developments actually live in Bicester? Do they personally visit and assess the existing traffic problems over a 24 hour period; a holiday weekend with the attendant problems of traffic? I seriously doubt it.

Bicester town needs another retail park off the A41 like a hole in the head. Perhaps our planners are erring on the side of caution waiting to sensibly gauge long-term effects of the Bicester Village Park and ride scheme and resurrection of the Oxford to Bletchley rail link before considering further developments.

I would urge caution to Kingsmere Estate residents eager for local additional retail development. Overflow car parking could turn estate roads into single lane carriageways denying residents access to and from their homes. Local history bears witness Kings End residents had similar experiences with the Bicester Village development.

JE Dennis
Barry Avenue
Bicester