Legal Action
Challenging the environmental screening decision for MOD Bicester Site A
Bicester Countryside and Communities CIC has begun the formal legal process to challenge the Government’s decision that the proposed MOD Bicester development does not require a full Environmental Impact Assessment.
Last updated: 18 September 2026
- CURRENT STATUS
Pre-Action Protocol Letter sent: 16 September 2026
Government response requested within 14 days
We are currently awaiting a response.
Why are we taking legal action?
We believe there are important questions about whether the environmental impacts of this proposal have been properly assessed.
On 16 September, solicitors acting for Bicester Countryside and Communities CIC sent a formal Pre-Action Protocol Letter, setting out three proposed grounds for judicial review.
In simple terms, the challenge raises concerns about three main concerns below.
- Incomplete environmental investigations
Important work relating to land contamination, ecology and foul-water management had not been completed when the Government decided that a full Environmental Impact Assessment was unnecessary.
- 6 metres or 12 metres?
The environmental screening considered buildings up to 6 metres high, while the submitted Parameters Site Plan allows development up to 12 metres high.
The challenge questions whether the Government therefore assessed the same development that is capable of being permitted.
- The screening process
The letter also asks the Government to explain the arrangements used to ensure the required objectivity and functional separation between those promoting the proposal and those responsible for its environmental screening.
What happens now?
The Government has been asked to respond to the Pre-Action Protocol Letter within 14 days.
The challenge asks the Government to reconsider its decision and carry out a fresh assessment of whether a full Environmental Impact Assessment is required.
What happens next will depend on its response.
If the matter cannot be resolved through the pre-action process, the next step could be an application to the court for judicial review.
We will update this page as soon as there is a significant development.
What is judicial review?
Judicial review is a process through which a court can examine whether a decision made by a public body was made lawfully.
It is important to understand that the court would not simply decide whether MOD Bicester is a good or bad location for the proposed development.
The legal question is whether the Government followed the law and proper process when making the decision being challenged.
Legal action timeline
26 August 2026
Government issues its environmental screening direction, concluding that a full Environmental Impact Assessment is not required.
16 September 2026
Solicitors acting for Bicester Countryside and Communities CIC send a formal Pre-Action Protocol Letter challenging that decision.
NOW
Awaiting the Government’s response.
NEXT
The response will determine whether the issue can be resolved or whether further legal action, including an application for judicial review, is necessary.
Who is bringing the challenge?
The proposed claimant is Bicester Countryside and Communities C.I.C., supported by the Wrong Plan Wrong Site campaign, Piddington Parish Council and community partners.
Specialist solicitors are acting for the CIC in relation to the proposed judicial review.
The campaign remains:
COMMUNITY-LED • NON-POLITICAL • EVIDENCE-LED
Help fund the legal challenge
Legal action and the specialist technical work needed to support it can be expensive.
Community donations help fund the legal, planning, environmental and other professional expertise needed to scrutinise the MOD Bicester proposal and pursue the challenge.
Every donation helps us continue this work.