If bets had been taken on it, it would have been odds-on. Last night, the Council’s centralised ‘Planning Review Group’ did what most expected and many feared: it approved the University of Oxford’s application for two new buildings on its site south of Old Road. There were some changes and new conditions which will lessen the impact of the buildings, but for some that will be cold comfort.
I attended the meeting as one of the speakers addressing the committee. Ruth, substituting for Altaf who is out of the country for family reasons, was one of the Review Group. In my address, I backed residents’ concerns over the size of financial contributions for traffic measures, pressed for more screening, but more widely stressed that the Review Group was in danger of making the decision blind-folded: the application is clearly part of a wider vision for the ‘campus’ but those plans have not been put on the table for the University’s partners in the community — I mean the residents — to understand what is intended for their area.
That wider point was pressed by Ruth on the Review Group but fell on deaf ears. At the same time, it must be said that what happened at the last meeting and the pressure brought to bear since then, has had an impact. First of all, the County reviewed their calculations and asked for an increased financial contribution — up from £218k to £257k. That’s still less than 0.5% of the overall price-tag for the buildings and feels very low. I remain concerned that the County has not considered all aspects of the case — have they, for instance, taken into account the extra enforcement of existing Parking Zones that will be needed? Or is that a cost they lightly think local residents should bear?
In addition, the University has offered to do more to provide adequate screening for the buildings. This is a big issue because of the overbearing nature of the new build next to Old Road and the fact that the trees that are there are desiduous and so give protection for only half the year. The University offered to turn over more space, reducing the number car-parking bays and planting mixed evergreens. The planning officers did not support this — for reasons that were not fully clear — but both Ruth and myself called for this offer to be written into any permission as a condition. That small battle was won.
What now? We must deal with the new situation as we find it. The top priority for Ruth and myself is to help to rebuild relations between the University and our residents. Most importantly, we want the University to be part of the community and not an imposition on it. That’s why I put the word ‘campus’ in inverted commas — we are determined that it should precisely not be that, suggesting as it does a set of buildings disassociated from its surroundings. It is important this University begins to play its part in the community of Headington of which – like it or not – it must be part.
