Bicester Garden Town - Environment
A thriving Garden Town should be a place with accessible green spaces where people choose to live, work and spend their leisure time in sustainable ways.
Bicester is fortunate to have green spaces across the town which provide benefits for health, wellbeing and community cohesion whilst new developments will bring additional areas for residents to enjoy.
We are working with local groups including Bicester Green Gym, Grassroots Bicester, Bicester Green and Oxfordshire Greentech business network to make Bicester a more sustainable town. We are committed to ensuring that new developments are designed to the highest standards, reducing energy use and making improvements to walking and cycling routes in the town.
Green spaces
Bure Park
A narrow, winding site between the housing estate and the London to Birmingham railway line. The area was granted Nature Reserve status in 2005.
Bicester Fields at Langford Village
Once farmland belonging to Langford and Wretchwick farms. There are plenty of paths for jogging or dog walking, a football pitch and pavilion and plenty of play areas for children.
Langford Community Orchard
This is Bicester’s first community orchard and all are welcome to visit. This is a great place to wander around with trees, grass, flowers and fruit. Enjoy the breeze, birdsong and buzzing insects. Have a picnic and relax. The orchard is an oasis removed from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Cemetery Road
Recently, the green space in the grounds of the former St Edburg’s School, off Cemetery Road, has been transformed by community action group Grassroots Bicester. The community garden is a space where growing plants comes second to growing friendships. Volunteers at Bicester’s Community Garden have embodied the Healthy Bicester principle of residents reaching out to help each other.
Garth Park
Bicester Town Council is based at Garth House, a former hunting lodge built in the 1840s. Today it is set in some 9 acres of parkland and former gardens. It includes Garth Park natural playground which was refurbished in 2015 by Bicester Town Council working in partnership with Cherwell District Council and sustainability charity Bioregional. All of the facilities are made of natural, renewable and/ or recyclable materials and include play stations such as a climbing frame, clamber nets and slides as well as bridges, stepping stones and pebble streams to encourage imaginative play.
New planned spaces
A new community woodland is planned at Burnehyll, near Kingsmere.
Eco Business Centre
The Eco Business Centre, in North West Bicester, was developed by Cherwell District Council and is an exemplar in sustainability. It is zero carbon and is the first non-residential Passivhaus Plus building in the UK, a rigorous standard for energy efficiency, quality and comfort.
Opened in September 2019, the building is managed by Town Square Spaces Ltd and provides a base for businesses, as well as a coworking space for local people to network and share ideas.
There are now 11 companies operating out of the Eco Business Centre, each bringing valuable jobs to the local economy. It also provides an excellent base for the growing number of self-employed residents to work from, retaining a wealth of creativity and expertise to the region.
This plays an important part in delivering Bicester’s garden town principles, giving members of the community access to good local jobs in a healthy environment.
Oxfordshire Greentech
Cherwell District Council has signed up to become a founder member of Oxfordshire Greentech Ltd, a business network based in Bicester helping to support companies in the region to adapt the way they work in the low carbon era.
Originally created in February 2019 with financial backing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Oxfordshire Greentech has attracted a wide range of members wanting to respond positively to the climate emergency. Regular conferences and workshops have enabled delegates access to the latest information on best practice as well as a valuable place to interact and share ideas with like-minded companies.
ERDF funding came to an end earlier this year, but the group has proved so popular that it has now become a Limited Company, with Cherwell District Council being amongst the first to sign up.
Oxfordshire Greentech Ltd operates out of Cherwell’s Eco Business Centre in Bicester, the first non-residential Passivhaus Plus building in the UK offering zero carbon offices and coworking space.
