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JANUARY
Retail park delays
The £40 million Bicester Shopping Park due to be completed in October 2019 had still not opened.
It was announced that it would instead be fully open by Easter.
Next, M&S Food, Nike, EE and Boots are now at the site and Pure Gym is set to open soon.
FEBRUARY
Pews removed
WORSHIPPERS clashed after a Bicester church’s ‘tragic’ decision to rip out its pews and replace them with modern chairs.
St Edburg’s Church in Old Place Yard removed the historic furniture so it could be more flexible in both its religious and social role.
But parishioners were in disagreement about whether it was appropriate, with some saying the Victorian pews are a ‘traditional element’ of the Grade I Listed building.
MARCH
Bicester Village
WORKERS at Bicester Village slammed its owners for their handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Staff said their health was not considered a priority, as the centre closed only when the Government ordered all clothes shops to shut on March 23 – the beginning of the first national lockdown.
Despite concerns at the end of January, the outlet’s owner, Value Retail, kept it open and said it was ‘monitoring the situation closely’.
APRIL
eBay row
A PHOTOGRAPHY shop owner in Bicester said eBay was ‘crippling’ trade by downgrading his seller status.
Robert Peckham, of Langford, runs Imagex in Pioneer Square, where he sells photographic equipment and also uses online marketplace eBay to sell used, rare and collectible photographic items.
He was limited to only listing 140 items each month, because his seller status on the site changed to ‘Below Standard’ after a package was delivered via Royal Mail more than two months late.
eBay has since ‘wiped the slate clean’.
MAY
Army of volunteers feed NHS
A HUGE team of volunteers in Bicester sacrificed their time to take part in a national project to feed NHS workers across the country.
More than 1,000 people in the town, including residents and British Army veterans, packed one million meals at Bicester Heritage to send to hospitals as part of the SalutetheNHS.org campaign.
JUNE
Sports ground refused
PLANS to expand Bicester Sports Association’s Chesterton sports ground were thrown out by councillors.
BSA had asked for permission to create new pitches for football, rugby and cricket players of all ages, and even a new archery range.
The council refused the scheme because they said the site was an inaccessible location and the development would have ‘adverse visual effects’.
JULY
Death at roundabout
A councillor called for a ‘death trap’ roundabout to get traffic lights after another fatal crash there.
A man in his sixties was driving northbound into Bicester on the A41 from junction 9 of the M40 when he crashed into Vendee Drive roundabout and died at the scene.
County councillor Ian Corkin called for traffic lights to be installed at the roundabout and for an immediate safety audit of that stretch of the A41.
AUGUST
Litter louts
EXASPERATED residents were fed up with litter in every part of their town and called on councils to do more.
After lockdown lifted people in Bicester complained about rubbish strewn across parks, car parks, the parish church graveyard and open fields.
Jamie Jesset, 24, from Bicester, took it upon himself to start picking up litter across the area and set up a volunteer group called Bicester Litter Pickers.
SEPTEMBER
Parks vandalised
HALF of Bicester’s 12 largest parks had been vandalised since they reopened, with hand sanitiser stations set alight, broken and stolen.
Bicester Town Council paid out more than £2,000 in unplanned expenditure to introduce safety measures so it could reopen some of its parks to children in July.
But vandals struck a week later at Launton Meadows play area, off Manston Road, pulling a hand sanitiser station from its post and setting it on fire.
Town council leader Richard Mould said he was ‘appalled’ by the vandalism.
OCTOBER
Water park resort appeal
US resorts firm Great Wolf Resorts lodged its planning appeal months after Cherwell councillors unanimously rejected the plan.
A spokesman for Great Wolf Resorts said: “We continue to believe in the economic, recreational and community benefits of a Great Wolf Lodge family resort in Chesterton, and therefore have submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.”
NOVEMBER
Housebuilder stops building
A DEVELOPER was asked to stop building a new housing estate, because planning conditions have not been met.
Mulberry Homes began work on its Launton development at the start of November.
The project was approved on appeal, subject to conditions, but these conditions were not satisfied by the council.
Mulberry Homes said it was looking to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
DECEMBER
Bicester vaccination hub
PEOPLE are to get Covid vaccinations at a dedicated new site at Bicester Heritage.
An agreement has been reached for a Bicester Covid-19 Vaccination Centre to operate from a building at the motor site.
Patients will be invited to receive their jabs there.
