Local MP demands answers on chemicals in waterways
Following a meeting at Heyford Park to discuss the discovery of PFAS chemicals in local waterways, Bicester and Woodstock MP Callum Miller published the following statement:
The Environment Agency have found that a watercourse near Heyford Park has one of the highest concentrations of harmful “forever chemicals” in the country. I attended a public meeting with constituents last week at which many concerns were expressed. Here are the questions we need answered, with urgency.
The EA tested a series of waterways. It found that concentrations of PFAS (forever chemicals) were alarmingly high in the Gallos Brook, approximately 4.5km downstream from Heyford Airfield. This is consistent with what we know: that PFAS are used in firefighting foam which was used extensively by the US Air Force at the base.
The readings, taken in 2023 and 2025 were 2,021 and 2,294 nanograms/ litre respectively. The US Government says that drinking water should have no more than FOUR nanograms/ litre and that a level over 1,000 is “critical”. No wonder constituents are worried.
There are 16 waterways running off Heyford Airfield (which is on a plateau). The USAF had a firepit at the airfield, used for training their fire crews. Fuel was used to set a plane alight, and the crews had to extinguish it. The plane sat on a concrete base which drained to the soil beneath.
Constituents rightly want to know:
– what danger do the PFAS pose to them, their families and their pets
– what is known about the levels in PFAS in air, soil and water in the area
– who is responsible for measuring, monitoring and containing the PFAS
I have written to the Environment Agency to ask:
– them to monitor water and soil beyond Gallos Brook and to release their results
– whether the site has been prioritised for future monitoring and investigation
– what assessment they have made of the risk to people and animals
I have written to the MOD to ask:
– whether the USAF shared any environmental assessments or made remediation commitments when it handed back the base in 1994
– whether the MOD made any environmental assessments 1994-97 (before they sold the site)
– for any records relating to the historic use of firefighting foams at the site.
I have written to the Department for Education to ask:
– Whether any environmental, soil or air quality testing has been undertaken at Heyford Park School
– Whether the Department has assessed risks to pupils and staff from construction activity at the Heyford Park development.
– What guidance is in place for schools located near sites of known or suspected PFAS contamination
I have written to Cherwell District Council to ask:
– whether the environmental screening and assessment that was done as part of the Heyford Park development proposal addresses the risks of PFAS
– what steps it has taken in respect of past developments to ensure there is appropriate remediation to protect the health local residents
– whether it has sufficient information to take decisions on current planning applications
For completeness, here’s a link to statement from the current owners of the site, the development group Dorchester Living. They state there is no conclusive link between PFAS readings downstream in Gallos Brook and the historic activities on their site – and they argue that PFAS risk is best addressed by developing the site as they would then undertake remediation. https://www.heyfordpark-pc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/PFAS-STATEMENT-FINAL.pdf
Thank you to the team who have raised concern and who organised the public meeting. Their own website is here: https://gallosbrook.wordpress.com/home/
This is a very serious matter. I have demanded urgent replies from all these government bodies and departments. People in the Heyford Park area deserve answers about who knew what when and who now has the responsibility for monitoring PFAS levels and for keeping them safe. I am determined to pursue answers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cewpln9d28ko
Dr Radcliffe’s appoints Lorraine as new Head
From Lisa Boote – Chair of the Local Governing Body
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mrs Lorraine Wood as the new Headteacher of Dr Radcliffe’s School. She will take up the role from 1st September. Lorraine is currently a Headteacher within the Oxford Diocesan School Trust Academy and therefore has a strong working knowledge and experience as a leader within the Trust which we are part of.
Lorraine is currently our Interim Headteacher and enjoyed her time at Dr Radcliffe’s so much that she applied for the position. During a rigorous interview process Lorraine stood out as the strongest candidate. As an experienced Headteacher she brings a huge wealth of experience, knowledge and skills, a real passion for education, and an aspirational strategic vision for our school. She showed a clear understanding of the context of Dr Radcliffe’s, our vision and values and the priorities for the future. We are confident that she will maintain and further develop standards, whilst fostering a nurturing and high-quality learning environment. The Governors and school team are hugely looking forward to supporting and working with Lorraine as our Full time Headteacher and as the Interim Headteacher up to the end of this academic year.
A message of welcome from Lorraine
I am absolutely delighted to be joining Dr Radcliffe’s School on a permanent basis as Headteacher from September. Having had the privilege of serving as Interim Headteacher, I have been so impressed by the warmth of our school community, the dedication of our staff, and the enthusiasm of our wonderful pupils. The school’s strong values and commitment to providing an excellent education in a caring and inclusive environment truly resonate with me. I am excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to working closely with our children, families, staff and governors to build on the school’s many strengths and ensure every child thrives to reach their true potential. I feel very fortunate to be part of this community and can’t wait to continue this journey together.
Tory returned to Cherwell Council in tight battle
Councillor Eddie Reeves retained his seat on Cherwell District Council after a close three-way contest in the Deddington ward on Thursday, 7 th May.
The Conservative incumbent faced serious challenges from both the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK. Voters we’re clearly engaged by the contest as the turnout at 52 per cent was higher than previous elections in the ward.
Eddie Reeves won with 1294 votes. Liberal Democrat James Hartley was second with 1173 votes and Gail Collingwood-Turner for Reform UK received 885 votes. The Labour and Green candidates trailed a long way behind these three.
Eddie Reeves, who is leader of the opposition on the council, posted his thanks in the village Facebook group. He wrote “A heartfelt thanks to everyone across the Deddington ward for their support today. Congratulations to all the other candidates on a good-natured campaign.
“Any local issues, please get in touch: Eddie.Reeves@Cherwell-DC.gov.uk I’m always happy to help as best I can.”
Results
Aaron Bliss – Green Party 333
Ann Collingwood-Turner – Reform UK 885
Eddie Reeves – Conservative 1294 Elected
Dean Hartley – Liberal Democrats 1173
Annette Murphy – Labour 300
Electorate
7,649
Turnout (per cent)
52.22%
Cherwell District results
In Cherwell District as a whole, 18 seats were up for grabs. Eight seats went to Liberal Democrats, six to Reform UK, two to Conservatives, one to Labour and one to the Greens.
Reform’s six new seats included that of former Labour group leader Andrew Crichton. However, Reform is only the council’s fourth largest party, with the Conservatives and Labour both still having eight councillors apiece.
Despite the Reform surge, the Lib Dems won an additional four seats meaning they remain Cherwell’s largest party with 20 seats, but they are still without a majority. The Lib Dems previously ran the council with the support of the Green Party and discussions will start now over who will form the next administration.
The make-up of the council is now as follows:
Conservative – 8
Green – 4
Independent – 2
Labour – 8
Liberal Democrat – 20
Reform UK – 6
Heyford Park developers confident of planning approval
The Parish Council and many others have expressed concern about the plan for 9,000 houses at Heyford Park and many other large developments nearby. Martin Lipson, Chair of the Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan Forum, recently met the developers Dorchester Living and reports that they seem to be confident their plan will go ahead, though with some modifications.
Martin has provided this update on the planning situation:
Cherwell District Council has received £500k in Government grant to ‘help progress plans’ for Heyford Park as a ‘large-scale housing development’. The Memorandum of Understanding that both parties signed in March states that although it is intended as capacity funding for the Council’s work on the project (for which there is coincidently a planning application by Dorchester Living for 9,000 homes) it is non-binding.
When the agreement came to the Council’s Executive committee in early April for rubber-stamping, a District Councillor very reasonably asked whether acceptance of the grant didn’t bring with it an expectation that Cherwell would have to approve Dorchester’s application – wasn’t this like ‘taking the King’s shilling’, he asked. He was assured that there was no such obligation (despite one of the requirements of the funding being to “develop a gateway package and recommending a delivery and governance approach”). Stretches the definition of ‘non-binding’, doesn’t it?
Our local parish councils and other community representatives are pressing hard for both Cherwell and Oxfordshire County Council to use this money to look at the combined impact of not only Heyford Park, but the Strategic Railfreight Interchange at Ardley, the huge warehouses at Baynards Green (which have now gone to appeal against refusal by Cherwell), Puy du Fou at Bucknell, and other large schemes nearby. The impact of greatly increased traffic flows in the area, pollution by chemicals, flooding of a local village, capacity of water and electricity supply, sewage disposal and other aspects of infrastructure and environmental issues, combine to make the proposals highly contentious. So there is pressure to involve community representatives in the work, to ensure that all these issues are addressed and that uncomfortable truths are not hidden.
In the meantime, Dorchester Living are feeling confident that their application will be approved, by the Government if not by Cherwell. In a recent meeting with Dorchester’s top team, Mid-Cherwell Neighbourhood Plan (MCNP) Forum members had the distinct impression of triumph, despite New Town status apparently being denied. However, it was made clear that the 9,000 homes that they propose is the total number, including those already permitted or built at Heyford Park. It is not – they were told- 9,000 additional homes. Still, it’s an awful lot more cars on the rural lanes of the neighbourhood, and a big problem for services such as GPs who already have difficulty coping with the needs of the local population. An updated version of the application is to be submitted soon, which Dorchester said was in response to concerns – principally those expressed forcefully by the Rousham campaign – about the visibility of new buildings on the skyline.
Support for Red Lion as a community pub
Following the news that Renee and Bryan Walker, the popular landlords of the Red Lion pub are to leave on 11th May, there has been a very positive response to the idea of running it as a community pub.
The couple are the latest in a long line of tenants to have left after a short time in the village. Hook Norton Brewery say they are confident that they will be able to find a replacement soon. But in the meantime, Townend residents Rob and Nicky Boobyer decided to test the water to see if villagers would support a community run pub which they say could provide more consistency and control over such an important village asset.
They explain, “We have only lived in Steeple Aston a short time, but in that time have seen three tenants pass through the pub. Seeing what a valuable asset the Red Lion is to the village, we took it upon ourselves to conduct a community survey to gauge opinion as to whether villagers would support a community run pub. QR code posters were put up in the pub, Harris Stores and the Village Hall area and the questionnaire was put on the village Facebook page and website with the closing date of the 15th April.”
In just one week they had 126 responses to the survey, which were overwhelmingly supportive of the idea. The couple met with Edwin Pope, the Operation’s Manager at the brewery to understand what was needed to present their case, and as a result, they submitted a business plan to the brewery on 17th April.
They know that the brewery staff are also talking to other parties, so it may be that new tenants can be found. However, their track record in hanging on to their tenants has been woeful in recent years.
In the meantime, Rob and Nicky have also spoken to the Plunkett Foundation, based in Woodstock, who help rural communities set up businesses. If they are successful, the foundation will help them through the process of selecting and setting up an appropriate business structure.
Meanwhile they want to show their appreciation for villagers’ response to their survey. They say, “This has been a fabulous response, and we wanted to thank you for this. What a fabulous community we have! Your answers to the questions have clearly shown the way forward with many offering to volunteer and contribute money to make this idea happen. Thanks also for your additional helpful comments. They are much appreciated.
“Whether we are successful or not in our application, we have gained valuable information and knowledge and have put in the groundwork to stand us in good stead going forward to protect the Red Lion’s future. We will keep you updated every step of the way, but for now we just wanted to say thank you for your input so far.”
Please note that until 11th May, the Red Lion is open for drinks only from 5.00pm on weekdays and 3.00pm on weekends.
Heyford Park will NOT be a New Town but…..
The Government has scrapped the idea of making nearby Heyford Park a New Town. An announcement on 22nd March said seven sites had been chosen from their original list of 12 possible New Towns. Heyford Park was among the rejected sites, but was still described as suitable for further development.
More development is certainly still on the cards at Heyford Park. Dorchester Living, the local developer, has already lodged a planning application with Cherwell District Council for a substantial town of 9,000 new homes on the site. Now, a land promoter called Richborough has applied for permission to build a further 475 homes on a farmland site next to Heyford Park.
Local resident Charlotte Harris strongly objects to this latest application and encourages others to make their objections known. She says: “This is on farmland next to the Heyford Leys Mobile Home Park. Once productive farmland is built on, it is lost forever. Developers should be building on the brownfield site of the former airfield, NOT on fields. The countryside between Heyford Park and the villages is not ‘spare land’. It provides separation, tranquillity and identity to our villages.”
Charlotte has produced the leaflet below detailing her objections. NB While Callum Miller is the MP for Bicester and Woodstock, we are in the Banbury constituency of Sean Woodcock, email sean.woodcock.mp@parliament.uk.
See the Government announcement about the seven proposed New Towns here. It says that the Government also assessed six further New Town locations including Heyford Park, which “will not be taken forward as New Towns at this stage but are deemed to be credible development opportunities and may continue to be supported through existing housing programmes.”
See details of Dorchester Living’s planning application here and Richborough’s application here
The removal of the Brasenose Farm windpump
A familiar sight has disappeared from our landscape. Carl and Kate Tomlinson of Brasenose Farm explain:
We thought we should mark the recent removal of the windpump with a brief history of its presence.
Its purpose was to draw water from a well. There were two wells on the farm prior to its division and sale at the end of the last century. William Wing notes the death of two men in ‘an unfinished well, at Brazenose (sic) Farm’ on 8 June 1833.2
I asked Tim Taylor when the windpump was erected, neither he nor his brother remember the farm without it and Tim’s best guess was that it would have been erected in the second decade of the last century. A windpump is marked on the 1919 Revised OS map of Steeple Aston.1
There was no mains water here until the 1990s. The north elevation of the farmhouse still sports a flexible pipe which carried the the water pumped from the well into the house. Water was essential not just for the human inhabitants of the farm but also for their cattle. The pump became part of an intricate, some might say Heath Robinson, system of collection and storage developed by Bill Taylor, Tim’s uncle. Their few remnants are known as Billisms.
In the 1960s the Rays went into dairy farming. The windpump would have provided both drinking water and the water needed for sluicing stalls, sheds and yards. Since the abolition of the Milk Marketing Board in 1994, and the subsequent increased power of the supermarkets, the national dairy herd has fallen from 2.6 million cows to 1.4 million. Brasenose Farm is just one of 28,000 dairy farms to have ceased production in that period.3
The windpump was long since obsolete. It stood – at best – as a memorial to the slow death of the small family farm. It was of course a noted village landmark; traces of the red, white and blue paint which decorated it for the 1977 Silver Jubilee are still visible on the sails. And, unfortunately, it was a liability, creaking loudly in high winds and needing expensive maintenance and repair. We therefore we took the sad decision to dismantle it safely before it became dangerous. We will miss it and were fortunate to have been its stewards for the last two decades.
We have salvaged the sails and hope to mount them at ground level so that something of the history of this place is preserved.
- https://maps.nls.uk/view/106016181
- William Wing, The Antiquities and History of Steeple Aston, p 60
- Private Eye, 6 February 2026, p 16