Plans for a £600 million historical theme park in Oxfordshire have been submitted to the council.
Puy du Fou, the creator of award-winning history-themed destinations in France and Spain, has submitted an outline planning application to Cherwell District Council for the site near to junction 10 of the M40 on land north of Bucknell, near Bicester.
Bosses say this followed an ‘extensive’ consultation, which took more than a year and included six in-person events and more than 250 individual meetings.
The decision now lies with the council, and if approved, the new park will open in phases beginning in 2029.
Puy du Fou says that by the time the park is fully developed, it will directly employ around 2,000 people, support a further 6,000 jobs in hotels, restaurants, suppliers and other local businesses, and deliver a £500m annual boost to the local and regional economy.
The park would be open between April and October and would have four period villages and 13 live shows, eventually attracting an estimated 1.47 million visitors a year.
There will also be three hotels, each themed to different periods in British history, and a ‘state-of-the-art’ conference centre, which will be open on demand all year round.
Olivier Strebelle, chief executive of Puy du Fou, said: “We have only submitted these plans after an extensive consultation, which took over a year and included six in-person events and over 250 individual meetings, all of which have helped to shape our final proposals.
“We did not rush our consultation because we wanted to get our proposals right; we have wanted to come to the UK for many years.”
The proposals also include ‘extensive’ landscaping and planting, with new ponds, lakes and gardens, as well as over five miles of new hedgerows and 20,000 new trees being planted.
