Major scheme to regenerate Oxford west end gets lift-off
Suzanne Lovell
The regeneration of the city’s west end has taken its first step after plans for more than 500 student flats were approved, it was announced earlier this week in the Oxford Mail.
"Oxford City Council leader Bob Price said the development off Osney Lane would ‘set the standard’ for the upcoming revamp of the Oxpens, which will see the whole area transformed.
The student flats have been proposed by Student Castle, which wants to demolish the existing Oxford Business Centre.
It was given approval by the city council’s west area planning committee on Tuesday night, with Mr Price saying its plans would fit in with a ‘masterplan’ for the Oxpens being drawn up jointly by the city council and Nuffield College – the two biggest landowners there.
He said: “The student flats are a very important first element in the overall redevelopment of Oxpens and will set the standard of what’s to come in terms of design.
“We have met with their architects and their proposal fits beautifully with our scheme, which will be a mix of commercial uses and housing.
“It will become an entirely new quarter of the city for people to live in and that’s very exciting.
“What is there now will be totally transformed – you won’t think Oxpens used to look like it is now.”
Read the full article on the Oxford Mail here.