Oxfordshire quarry-to-labs transformation blocked

Vale of White Horse District Council has put the handbrake on plans to turn the former Wicklesham Quarry in Faringdon, Oxfordshire, into a science and technology campus. The refusal comes amid ecology, heritage, forestry and landscape officers’ concerns around the lack of biodiversity net gain that the scheme would deliver. The officers have raised questions about the justification behind the proposed removal of the mature trees on-site, noting that although the plans include the planting of additional individual trees, these would take a long time to mature and would not screen the buildings. The 29-acre site is located in an area identified as having special scientific interest and described by Natural England as “one of Britain’s richest palaeontological localities”. There have been previous attempts by other developers, including Grundon, to turn the site into a business park, but the plans faced strong opposition from the local community. Last year, De Montalt Life Sciences brought forward proposals to create more than 455,000 sq ft of laboratory and office facilities across seven buildings. The developer has acknowledged the value of the site in its proposals, noting that the quarry walls will be retained and protected. As such, the scheme, to be known as BioGenia, was designed by Kendall Kingscott to sit within a park running through the middle of the site. Also, a BREEAM Excellent rating was expected to be achieved for all of the buildings. Image © Kendall Kingscott