BICESTER will have to wait another month before a decision is made about granting permission for a new Greggs drive-thru to be built in the town.

Cherwell District Council's planning committee met yesterday afternoon to discuss proposals to build the bakery opposite Wyndham Hall Care Home off the Launton Road roundabout in North West Bicester.

The 1,800sqft building is proposed to be single storey and the site will have 30 car parking spaces and six bike spaces.

Bicester Advertiser:

It would be Oxfordshire's first Greggs drive-thru.

Planners recommended the committee to grant permission subject to conditions; the Environment Agency removing their objection; the completion of a Section 106 Agreement; and Greggs working with Oxfordshire County Council Highways to secure the implementation of widening a footpath on the site.

But councillors decided to defer the decision altogether to allow officers to have further discussions with Oxfordshire County Council highways regarding options for pedestrian and cycle connections to the site.

ALSO READ: Residents say proposed Bicester Greggs drive-thru is 'in the wrong location'

It came after Bicester Bike Users Group flagged to the committee that a two-metre-wide shared footpath next to a 50mph road would not be 'compliant' with policy standards and feedback he had received from OCC highways had not been included in the officer's report for the committee.

Bicester BUG member Paul Troop said in the meeting: "A senior officer has confirmed that two metres is not enough, it needs to be at least three metres wide. In addition, given that it's a 50mph road there needs to be a buffer between the path and the highway.

Bicester Advertiser: Area marked in red shows where the new Greggs would beArea marked in red shows where the new Greggs would be

"Also, OCC Highways have conceded that a wider crossing is required. None of that has made it into the officers recommendation which is concerning."

Paul also urges the council and Greggs to consider building a segregated path given that the majority of paths are all segregated in the area.

The committee therefore decided OCC Highways and Cherwell planners needed more time to deliberate options for access to the site.

ALSO READ: People worried 3,100 house plan for Bicester will overwhelm Bucknell

Councillor George Reynolds, planning committee chairman, said: "I think to be brutally honest the safest way forward will be to defer the application for one session to allow the officers to try and sort out this argument."

The committee agreed unanimously to defer.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.