A public inquiry has begun into the redevelopment of one of the largest US Air Force bases in Europe used during the Cold War, at Upper Heyford near Bicester, in Oxfordshire.

English Heritage will provide evidence at the inquiry with the aim of protecting the Conservation Area, which developer North Oxfordshire Consortium (NOC) proposes to convert into property development.

NOC plans to retain the four Hardened Aircraft shelters in the northwest part of the 540-hectare site, and in doing so will create a historical 'Cold War Park' for visitors. The buildings will be re-used as 'low key storage' for paper records or as a remote archive for compainies and organisations.

While English Heritage does not object to the plans, which also include 1,075 houses with community facilities, it has concerns about the site's preservation and will be seeking to ensure that any commercial activity does not harm the former RAF base.

NOC plans to retain the four Hardened Aircraft shelters in the northwest part of the 540-hectare site, and in doing so will create a historical 'Cold War Park' for visitors. The buildings will be re-used as 'low key storage' for paper records or as a remote archive for compainies and organisations.

Nigel Barker, English Heritage team leader for Oxfordshire, said: "This is a site that has served as a military airfield for over 80 years and has left us a legacy in the form of a distinctive Cold War landscape.

"We are seeking to ensure that it can remain, not as a museum, but as a distinctive place capable of re-use to help fund the management and maintenance of the site for future generations."

The inquiry will run until 24 October 2008.