Dorchester Living is celebrating a double awards success this week after the team picked up two trophies for the innovative masterplan at Heyford Park.

The Oxfordshire development was recognised at The Planning Awards 2026 for Best Use of Brownfield Land in the Placemaking category, alongside a further award for Plan-Making in the Planning category.

Both wins show the scale of the ambition behind Heyford Park, where our team is transforming the former RAF Upper Heyford airbase into a community-focused, sustainable new settlement.

With support of the wider project team, the masterplan sets out how the major brownfield site can deliver lasting social, economic and environmental benefits for the community.

The proposals will see up to 9,000 new homes delivered, of which 30% will be affordable, alongside assisted living and key worker housing to meet pressing local needs.

Creating up to 5,000 jobs, the development will also see schools, community facilities and employment space brought forward to support a genuinely self-sufficient new town.

The new community has been designed to set a new benchmark for future sustainable placemaking, while still remembering the site's distinctive history as a former airbase. Dorchester Living was recognised by the judges for our ambition to create the UK's first energy-surplus town.

The judges also praised the way the design reflects the location’s heritage, noting how it stood apart from other schemes of a similar scale. Commenting on the event, Planning Resource’s article explained: “the judges agreed that with a design that acknowledges the site’s historic legacy, it stood out from many similar schemes.”

Paul Silver, Dorchester Living's CEO, explains: "To be recognised in both the placemaking and planning categories is a real reflection of the shared vision behind Heyford Park. Our ambition has always been to create somewhere that lasts, a real community built on sustainable foundations, what could be the first town in the UK to generate more energy than it uses. These awards belong to everyone who has helped shape that vision."

Dorchester Living would like to extend its thanks to those whose expertise and commitment made the plans at Heyford Park possible: Proctor and Matthews Architects, Rolton Group, Kim Wilkie, Stantec, Pegasus Group, Mode Transport and BSG Ecology.

The partnership has shown how collaborative, strategic and thoughtful planning can transform a single site into the foundations of a thriving community for generations to come.

For more information on Heyford Park, please visit: www.heyfordparknewtown.com