A DEVELOPER has unveiled details of a bid to turn part of the former RAF Bicester into apartments and houses but it will not include affordable homes.

City and County Group wants to make 17 grade II listed buildings into 181 apartments and houses, ranging from one to five bedrooms at the Skimmingdish Lane site.

It says most of the art deco style buildings on the 22-acre site will be restored to their former glory, including 19 properties that will be built.

The site was a bomber airfield in the Second World War and latterly housed 300 forces clothing workers until the RAF left in 2004.

Yet the firm’s plans are not seeking to abide by a council policy that 30 per cent will be affordable homes.

James Porter, chairman of the planning committee at Bicester Town Council, said: “I think the issue of affordable housing on the site needs more conversation.

“But I would not want them to develop something that was not in keeping with the historical nature of the site.”

Cherwell District Council said it usually sought 30 per cent of units in a development to be affordable.

Helen Moore, the group’s residential managing director, said the firm could not meet Cherwell District Council’s policy of 30 per cent affordable homes in new developments.

She said: “If we do provide affordable housing it means the costs go up and we will need more new builds at the site to fund it. It’s a balance and it’s about weighing up the different choices.

“With conversion it is a very expensive process and we have to look to create something that’s viable.”

She said the firm was confident of sales despite the property slump.

The firm bought the site from the MoD earlier this year and expects to sell homes from 2012 if planning permission is granted by the council.

The plans will also convert a former boiler house into a five-bedroom home with access to its tall chimney to give its owner a bird’s eye view of the site.

Three car parks, including the former parade ground, will be transformed in to large grassed squares, including one with an orchard.

And the former lodge will be turned into a cafe and shop.

There will be two new entrances off Skimmingdish Lane and a pedestrian entrance off Buckingham Road.

Some of the newer buildings on the site will be demolished, and the rifle range is also likely to go.

Ben Jackson, chairman Bicester and District Chamber of Commerce, supported the plans, but was disappointed no employment space had been included.He said: “The designs appear sympathetic to the site’s history.”

A question mark hangs over the airfield, on the opposite side of the A4421 at Caversfield, as the MoD has not put it on the market. It is regarded a major part of Britain’s military aviation heritage.

The Oxford Mail reported on Saturday how Bicester MP Tony Baldry is calling for the airfield to be handed to charity to preserve its historical value.