Graven Hill D1 Site (Circular Road, Ambrosden, Bicester, Oxfordshire)

Graven Hill D1 Data Centre Campus - eight data-centre units (Cherwell reserved matters 25/03310/REM)

Permitted last observed as of 2026-08-06 · Development consent

The officer report states that the reserved matters application 'seeks permission for the erection of 8 data centre units totalling 103,605 sq m gross internal area (GIA) falling within the approved B8 use class', with a large substation on the western edge of the site. Unit 1 is a 4,288 sq m GIA, 15 MW building; Units 2-8 are 13,961 sq m GIA, 60 MW buildings, each with a data hall 96 m wide and 64.5 m long, offices and diesel standby generator enclosures. The site is 32.3 ha of former MOD land south of Graven Hill and St David's Barracks; existing buildings have been demolished and the Employment Access Road to Pioneer Road and the A41 is built. It records outline permission 22/01829/OUT (B8 up to 104,008 sq m GIA) approved 10 October 2023, two pre-application discussions for an eight-data-centre scheme, and addresses third-party arguments that data centres are sui generis rather than B8, concluding that the scheme falls within the outline permission. Recommendation: approval. evidence

Cherwell District Council · published 2026-08-06

The applicant's cover letter says 'The Proposed Development comprises eight data centre buildings, with data halls (Units 1-8), each designed to accommodate computing infrastructure', each with backup power generation, a substation at the south-west of the site and associated facilities, submitted through the Planning Portal (PP-14036983) pursuant to outline permission 22/01829/OUT; it notes that the outline's phasing condition was discharged on 7 November 2025 confirming a single phase. evidence

Cherwell District Council planning register (applicant submission) · publication date not stated

Redacted planning application form for the Graven Hill D1 Site reserved matters application (Planning Portal PP-14036983): site in Bicester, postcode OX26 6HF, easting 459219 and northing 219802, described as the site at Graven Hill commonly referred to as 'D Site & EL1 Site' or the 'Employment Land', referred to in the application as the 'D1 Site'. evidence

Cherwell District Council planning register (applicant submission) · publication date not stated

Area schedule headed 'GRAVEN HILL D1 SITE - DATA CENTRE (410_S_DC_50-PL1)', dated 10 December 2025 and listed in Condition 1 of the decision: Unit 1 4,288 sq m GIA (data hall 3,463 sq m) and Units 2-8 about 13,961 sq m GIA each (data hall 12,065 sq m each). evidence

Cherwell District Council planning register (applicant submission) · publication date not stated

The applicant's statement for a second reserved matters application (26/02446/REM, received 18 September 2026) under the same outline permission says the earlier reserved matters proposal 25/03310/REM 'for a data centre scheme at the site' was approved on 6 August 2026 and 'related to the provision of 8 data centre buildings', and that the new application, for ten B8 storage-and-distribution warehouse buildings, 'is being submitted as an alternative scheme to safeguard the commercial viability of the land'. It appends the 25/03310/REM decision notice. evidence

Cherwell District Council planning register (applicant submission) · publication date not stated