TWO million square feet of warehousing proposed for Bicester could limit the local job market and threaten the town’s ecological credentials, campaigners fear.

Four major business park plans have been put forward for land north of the A41 London Road, east of Skimmingdish Lane, Howes Lane and land within Wretchwick Green.

A decision for a 570,000 sq ft industrial park off Howes Lane was deferred by planning authority Cherwell District Council to rethink the storage and distribution plans taking up 70 per cent of the site’s employment space.

Critics hoped the deferral sent a “clear message” to developers about considering the impact of “massive warehousing”.

The Wretchwick Way Committee, a campaign group set up to improve the safety of the Wretchwick Way junction with Peregrine Way, said the scale of warehousing would undermine Bicester’s garden town status, granted in 2014 and reinforced with a £19m grant last year for 13,000 new homes and roads.

Chairwoman Carole Hetherington said: “They are going to dwarf everything, we are going to be known as a ‘warehousing town’ not a ‘garden town’.

“Every development seems to have huge B8 [storage and distribution] warehousing in it – how many more do we need?”

Campaigners argue that warehousing offers few jobs for the amount of land it takes up and goes against the green credentials of an eco-town.

Bicester Town Councillor Les Sibley said: “ We want high-tech jobs. Ours is supposed to be the first in the country as a garden town and it is important people look at us for how to deliver it.

“The Howes Lane decision needs to send a clear message to developers that they need to adhere to the green credentials of an eco town and consider the impact of these massive warehouses on local residents.”

Developer Framptons refuted criticism that minimal jobs will be created.

Agent Peter Frampton said: “I think there is still a misunderstanding about modern day logistics and the amount of jobs these buildings provide .”

Following the Framptons scheme deferral, the developer is talking with planning officers to consider a cap on the amount of B8 warehousing at Howes Lane.

Plans are expected to come back to Cherwell District Council for a decision at the end of February.