Ardley · Upper Heyford · Bicester — The Imperfect Storm

The Imperfect Storm in Our Area

A calm, factual, community-led campaign for independent testing, transparency, and protection for local families.

Our area faces a combination of environmental and planning risks that have never been assessed together. Each issue alone is serious — but together they form an Imperfect Storm. Our goal is simple: independent testing, openness, and protection for the people who live here.

Understand the Risks

🔥300,000+

Tonnes of waste burned each year at the Ardley incinerator.

💧PFAS

"Forever chemicals" reported in local watercourses linked to former RAF Upper Heyford.

🌾Thames Water

Sludge and slurry stored for long periods on farmland close to homes.

🚛300–400

HGVs every day on Camp Road, through the middle of Heyford Park.

What's Happening in Our Area

Five serious issues, never assessed together

The Ardley incinerator, PFAS contamination, sludge and slurry storage, daily HGV traffic through Heyford Park, and housing built on or near contaminated land all intersect in our community. No authority has ever looked at these risks as a whole. Here is each part of the storm.

01 — INFRASTRUCTURE

Ardley Incinerator

Originally refused locally, then approved following ministerial intervention.
Burns more than 300,000 tonnes of waste each year.
Produces emissions, fine particulates, and heavy traffic.
No cumulative health assessment has been carried out for the housing nearby.

02 — WATER & CHEMICALS

PFAS in Gallos Brook

PFAS reported in watercourses linked to the former RAF Upper Heyford site.
These "forever chemicals" are persistent, bioaccumulative, and raise long-term health questions.
No PFAS-aware assessment has been made for residents, children, or wildlife.

03 — LAND & RUNOFF

Sludge & Slurry Fields

Large mounds stored on farmland for months at a time.
May contain PFAS, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and heavy metals.
Carries a runoff risk into local ditches and streams.
A potential hydrological link to Gallos Brook.

04 — PLANNING

Housing on Contaminated Land

Thousands of homes built within roughly a mile of the incinerator.
Many on or near historic Ministry of Defence contamination.
No cumulative modelling for the families now living here.

05 — TRAFFIC & AIR

HGVs Through Heyford Park

Heyford Park experiences 300–400 heavy goods vehicles every single day using Camp Road as the main access route through the middle of the estate — the same road lined with homes, the school, playgrounds and shops. These lorries release significant daily pollution directly inside the residential area:

540–720 kg

of CO₂ every day

2.4–3.2 kg

of NOₓ every day — linked to asthma, heart and lung disease

30–40 g

of PM₂.₅ every day — fine particles that penetrate deep into the lungs

This level of pollution is normally associated with major roads — not a so-called "family-friendly" housing development.
Children walking to school, families opening windows, and residents using gardens are exposed to continuous, cumulative emissions.
The estate has been designed around an HGV corridor, with no bypass and no separation between industrial traffic and residential life.
The result is a high-pollution environment being built and marketed as a healthy community.

How It All Connects

These are not separate problems. They flow into one another — and ultimately, towards the places people live, learn, and play.

🔥

Incinerator Emissions

Airborne particulates settle on land and water

🚛

Daily HGV Emissions on Camp Road

NOₓ and fine particles released inside the estate itself

🌾

Sludge & Slurry Runoff

Stored waste leaches into ditches and soil

💧

PFAS in Water & Soil

Persistent chemicals accumulate over time

🏞️

Gallos Brook

A shared watercourse carrying it downstream

🏘️

Homes, Schools & Play Areas

Where local families spend their daily lives

What Residents Are Saying

Homeowners fear PFAS will hit house prices

In local community Facebook groups, homeowners have begun raising the same worries: houses seem to be taking longer to sell, and people are asking what the growing publicity around PFAS contamination could mean for the value of their homes.

Slow sales

Residents have asked why homes in the area appear to be taking a while to sell, and whether contamination concerns are already putting buyers off.

Falling values

Homeowners have asked how far prices could drop if there is more adverse publicity about PFAS and pollution in the area.

Legal questions

People are asking what lawyers, conveyancers and surveyors will say, and whether they would have to disclose contamination when selling.

Why disclosure matters

When selling a home in England, sellers usually complete a property information form for the buyer, and buyers' conveyancers often order environmental searches. Once contamination has been publicly reported, it becomes a question that buyers, lenders and surveyors are more likely to ask.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you are buying or selling locally, speak to a conveyancing solicitor about your own situation.

Are you a local homeowner, buyer or estate agent with experience of this? Please get in touch. Accounts will only be shared anonymously and with permission.

The concerns above are paraphrased from public posts by residents in local community Facebook groups and are shared anonymously. They reflect residents' worries, not measured evidence that house prices have fallen. This site does not allege wrongdoing by any individual or company.

Who Controls the Land

Corporate Structure & Accountability at Heyford Park

Heyford Park is controlled by a small group of private individuals through a network of interlinked companies, many of which share almost identical names. Each company typically owns a different slice of land or phase of development — a structure that is difficult for residents to understand and even harder to scrutinise.

How the Site Changed Hands

From the UK's largest national housebuilders to a network of interlinked private companies.

🏗️

North Oxfordshire Consortium

A partnership of some of the UK's largest national housebuilders — the original owner of the entire Upper Heyford site

🤝

Sold to the Dorchester Group

A much smaller developer — no clear public explanation has ever been given for the sale

🕸️

Network of Interlinked Companies

Dozens of Heyford-related boards, many with near-identical names

🗺️

Land Held in Slices

Each company typically owns a different parcel or phase of the development

DIRECTORS & BOARDS

A Small Group, Dozens of Companies

The core directors and shareholders are Ian Amdur, Gary Silver, and Paul Silver.
They sit on dozens of Heyford-related company boards.
Many of the companies share almost identical names, making them difficult for residents to tell apart and scrutinise.

FINANCE

Outstanding Bank Charges

Numerous outstanding bank charges are registered against these companies at Companies House.
The charges show different parts of the former airbase have been repeatedly used as security for loans and refinancing arrangements over many years.
This is a common model in large-scale development — but the sheer number of entities and charges raises questions about transparency, financial risk, and long-term accountability.

THE ORIGINAL SALE

An Unresolved Question

The land was first owned by the North Oxfordshire Consortium, a partnership of some of the UK's largest national housebuilders.
Instead of developing the site themselves, they sold it to the much smaller Dorchester Group.
No clear public explanation has ever been given for why major national developers stepped away from such a large and potentially profitable site.
It is also unclear what due diligence was carried out before the sale.

Taken together — the complex company structure, the multiple charges, and the lack of clarity around the original sale — residents are left with important unanswered questions about who holds responsibility for the land, the financing, and the long-term environmental and community impacts of development at Heyford Park.

Company, directorship and charge information is drawn from public records held at Companies House. This page asks questions about transparency and accountability; it does not allege wrongdoing by any individual or company.

Leadership & Accountability

The People Behind the Development

The three individuals who control Heyford Park — Ian Amdur, Gary Silver, and Paul Silver — collectively hold an unusually high number of directorships across the Dorchester/Heyford corporate network: nearly 60 active company directorships between just three people, all connected to the same development ecosystem.

Companies House public record for Ian Michael Amdur showing 27 current appointments

Ian Amdur

27 current directorships

Source: Companies House public register, filtered to current appointments.

Companies House public record for Gary Alexander Silver showing 20 current appointments

Gary Silver

20 current directorships

Source: Companies House public register, filtered to current appointments.

Companies House public record for Paul Anthony Silver showing 12 current appointments

Paul Silver

12 current directorships

Source: Companies House public register, filtered to current appointments. Chief executive of Dorchester Living.

THE PATTERN

Corporately Complex, Publicly Unclear

Many of these companies share similar names, operate from the same registered address, and relate to different parcels of land, phases of development, or financing structures within the former RAF Upper Heyford site. Large regeneration projects often involve multiple companies — but the density of directorships concentrated in so few hands at Heyford Park is far beyond what most residents would expect from a local housing development. It raises reasonable questions about:

Why so many separate entities are needed.
How responsibilities are divided between them.
Who is ultimately accountable when problems arise.
Why the structure is so complex for a single geographic site.

When combined with the numerous outstanding bank charges across these companies and the lack of transparency around the original sale from the North Oxfordshire Consortium, the volume of directorships contributes to a wider picture of a development that is corporately complex but publicly unclear.

“…assailed by every protestor under the sun, and local people, [with] ‘not on my doorstep’ scenarios.”

— Paul Silver, chief executive of Dorchester Living, speaking about Heyford Park in a published press interview, December 2025.

This comment, made while discussing the Heyford Park development, has raised concerns among residents about the company's attitude toward community feedback. At a time when local people are reporting serious issues — pollution, HGV traffic, sewage releases, and environmental contamination — the tone of this statement has been seen by many as dismissive of legitimate worries. Residents are increasingly asking whether their concerns are being heard, or simply categorised as "protestors" to be brushed aside.

Is the leadership culture at Heyford Park aligned with the long-term wellbeing of the community living here?

Directorship figures are taken from public Companies House records (current appointments). The quotation above is from a published press interview and is reproduced for the purpose of comment and review. This page asks questions about transparency and accountability; it does not allege wrongdoing by any individual or company.

About This Campaign

Who's Behind The Imperfect Storm

This site is researched, written and maintained by one local resident — not a political party, a developer, or a lobbying group. If you have information, a correction, or simply want to get in touch, you're always welcome to.

Peter Sanford

Creator of OurWorld · Musician, Writer & Activist

Peter Sanford is a musician, writer and activist, and the creator of OurWorld — a civic platform built to give ordinary people a clearer, calmer voice. He designed and built The Imperfect Storm to bring the evidence around development, pollution and accountability at Upper Heyford into one place.

The whole site is held to a single standard: no claim without a source. If you spot something that doesn't meet it, please say so — accuracy matters more than being right.

✉ Email Peter

This campaign is independent and non-partisan. It asks questions about transparency, testing and accountability; it does not allege wrongdoing by any individual or company.