Bucks Council has cleared its £2.25m grant for a national drone test centre at Westcott, seven miles west of Aylesbury. First kit this autumn, the rest in 2027.

A national centre for testing drones is coming to Westcott Venture Park, about seven miles west of Aylesbury, backed by £2.25 million from Buckinghamshire Council.

The council has now cleared the last legal hurdle before the money can be signed over. An officer decision dated 28 September approved completing and signing the grant agreement with the Satellite Applications Catapult, which will own and run the centre.

The Catapult announced the project on 29 September at the DroneX trade show in London. It is called the National Autonomy and Drone Innovation Centre, or NADIC.

What will be built

The centre will expand the Catapult’s existing Drone Test and Development Centre at Westcott. The Catapult says it will include:

  • facilities to test how drones cope when satellite navigation is lost, jammed or faked
  • a lab for testing drones across satellite and ground-based communications
  • a remote operations control room for training and mission simulation
  • an indoor “Windshaper” that creates the same wind conditions every time
  • a robotic arm for automated, repeatable testing
  • a motion platform that recreates operating from moving vessels, vehicles and uneven ground

The robotic arm, motion platform and control room are due to work from this autumn. The Catapult expects the full centre in the second half of 2027. It says the centre is aimed mainly at small and medium-sized firms.

What the council’s papers add

The Cabinet report of 28 July gives figures the announcement leaves out:

  • the whole project costs £7.8 million: £3.6 million of building and equipment, and £4.2 million of running costs
  • the Catapult had already put £600,000 of its own capital into equipment in 2025/26
  • Westcott is described as one of only three recognised drone test sites in the UK approved by the Civil Aviation Authority
  • drone firms already based there include Skyports, Flarebright and Stirling X
  • the venture park, a former RAF station, covers 650 acres and is the largest business park in Buckinghamshire

Cabinet approved the £2.25 million on 28 July. It was one of the first two awards from the council’s new Buckinghamshire Growth Fund. The other was £2 million for a Bosch innovation and training centre at Denham, in the south of the county.

The strings attached

The council’s investment board set conditions on the Westcott grant. The report lists them:

  • no council money is released until match funding from the UK Space Agency and industry partners is confirmed
  • the Catapult should cover any running losses in the early years, and put any profits back into Westcott
  • the council gets all its money back if the project does not go ahead as planned, the building is sold, or the Catapult stops working at Westcott within ten years
  • the Catapult’s lease extension and any planning permissions must be secured

Neither the council’s decision nor the Catapult’s announcement says whether the UK Space Agency match funding has now been confirmed. That is the condition that decides when the council’s money actually moves.

Why it took two months

Cabinet’s approval in July depended on independent legal advice about subsidy rules. The 28 September decision records what happened next. Lawyers Bevan Brittan advised that the grant counts as a subsidy. The council’s finance team then had the project’s “viability gap” reviewed by Hewdon Consulting. The council concluded the grant is no bigger than the gap it is meant to fill, which is the test under the Subsidy Control Act.

Where the money comes from

Council leader Steven Broadbent said in the Catapult’s announcement that the funding “is not money diverted from day-to-day council services”.

The Cabinet report bears that out. The grant comes from a ringfenced reserve held for projects overseen by the Buckinghamshire Growth Board. That reserve stood at £21.95 million, and the report describes it as retained income from the county’s Enterprise Zone. The council’s finance officer warned that the combined £4.25 million for Westcott and Denham “represents a significant use of reserves” and will leave less for future projects.

What it means for you

For most Aylesbury residents this is about jobs, not a building you will visit. Westcott Venture Park is on the edge of Westcott village, off the A41 between Aylesbury and Bicester. The council’s report says the project is expected to create skilled jobs, but neither the report nor the Catapult gives a number.

The Catapult says the first equipment will be in use this autumn. We will report whether the match funding is confirmed and when the full centre opens.