Park and ride to stand empty as temporary use rejected

The park and ride is expected to open in 2027

A mothballed £51m park and ride - currently due to open in 2027 - will stand empty until then after other proposed uses were turned down by a council.

The 850-space Eynsham site was completed in 2024 but a planning application to connect it to the nearby A40 was only submitted in July because of cost issues.

Oxfordshire County Council said the park and ride was finished on time and on budget because of a ring-fenced grant but "cost pressures caused by high inflation" temporarily halted the rest of the A40 improvements scheme.

Potential uses for the site suggested by residents and businesses, including cycle training, a bus depot and autonomous vehicle training, were rejected by the authority.

The authority said "constraints" and other costs associated with the potential uses "limited the use of the park and ride to its original intended use".

In a statement on its website, the council said it "investigated a variety of interim uses for the site in advance of it becoming fully operational".

In response to a freedom of information request, the authority said it was also approached with proposals to use the site for parkruns or recreational purposes.

But an Oxfordshire County Council task and finish group concluded that mothballing to "protect the site from damage and degradation" was preferable.

A spokesperson said: "There was no comfort that value generated by interim uses would cover the council's costs in staff, resources or capital modifications necessary to commercially leverage the site."

Costs of potentially getting planning permission and insurance, along with problems accessing the site, also hindered using it for other purposes, the council added.