Another chapter in the Upper Heyford story

In October 2023 I thought that the planning fiasco that determined the future of the former Cold War air base at Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire UK had reached a point where the story could be told and the subsequent ripples would be irritating but not significant. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ao76pbJEXou76QQTZzq7howyq76BZUqh/view?usp=sharing I could not have been more wrong. In late 2025 the owners made a planning application for 9000 houses as a pre-emptive strike to gain support from the New Towns Taskforce set up by the Labour Government that had became increasingly aware that building 1.5m new homes a year would not be achievable. And the identification of Upper Heyford was then picked up by the Oxfordshire Growth Commission in its attempt to stoke the construction fire. In normal times there would be close to zero chance of development at scale being allowed on the best preserved remains from the Cold War that is a conservation area including listed buildings and scheduled monuments. But, having pointed out the devastating effect the development would have on this site of pre-eminent heritage value, Historic England advise Cherwell District Council that it understands the need for more housebuilding! 'Normal times' clearly include compromise and hipocracy, dissembling and dissimulation. The fact that neither the New Towns Taskforce nor the Growth Commission consulted Historic England might have made no difference if heritage counts for so little. Even remembering that it is the Cold War that is being represented at Upper Hayford and there seems to be a certain amount of ignorance being displayed about this seismic event. It also transpires that Historic England managed to advise Cherwell District Council on the best preserved remains in Europe, that are also a significant part of US heritage, without reference to the international conventions on heritage and culture agreed at Paris, Granada and Valetta. If these conventions do not apply to a largely intact Cold War air base they might as well be scrapped. On 6 January there was an opportunity to see Emma Squire and Ian Morrison Historic England's CEO and Director of Policy respectively giving evidence to the Culture Parliamantary Select Committee on the subject of 'built heritage' claiming that the UK is taking a leading role in the international responsibilties for protecting heritage assets and capital. No mention of the relevant conventions and how they are being ignored. No mention of the World Heritage Sites in the UK where the status is being threatened. And no mention of the recommendation of the 2011 Panel considering applications for inclusion on the WHS tentative list where the Cold War is un®epresented. No mention of the research that required to see whether Upper Heyford should be included in what they envisaged would be a trans-national designation. Unfortunately I cannot report on the outcome of the current application that seems to be undecided, or the decision of the Labour Government on what new towns should be designated. But comments can still be made via and Cherwell Planning Portal on application number 25/02190/HYBRID and representations to Matthew Pennycook MP the housing and planning minister on how heritage value should sometimes take precedence over housebuilding. Historic England and the Council members and officers are already sharing space in the hall of shame for those whose job it has been to protect Upper Heyford from the degradation it has suffered over the last 30 years. It is quite conceivable that their institutions and the planning system will be further discredited by an approval of this monstrous development. As a last gasp to forestall or prevent this from happening Historic England has been asked to confirm to Cherwell DC that its letter was flawed by its failure to advise on the effects of the relevant international conventions, that the new town taskforce and growth commission should not be relied on and, finally, that HE understands that it should belatedly be doing the research required by the 2011 Panel into the potential of a World Heritage Site designation. Manwhile I will summon the energy to describe this latest chapter of Cold War denial as an addendum to the e-book.