Plans for the Oxpens redevelopment scheme in Oxford go before councillors on Tuesday (January 21) with a recommendation for approval.

Oxford City Council’s planning committee will consider the outline application by OXWED LLP, a joint venture between Nuffield College and Oxford City Council, for a mixed-use neighbourhood comprising 234 flats (50 per cent of them affordable), 258 student rooms, around 500,000 sq ft of labs or office space and a 250-room hotel.

New public realm improvements are proposed, which will include an amphitheatre, events lawn and play area. Public toilets on the site will be reprovided. Improvements are also planned to Oxpens Road, Osney Lane and a right of way which exists alongside the 15-acre site on the edge of the city centre.

The site is bounded by the railway line, Oxpens Road and the River Thames. It includes meadows, wasteland and the Oxpens car park and surrounds the Oxford Ice Rink which is being retained.

OXWED says the development could contribute an estimated £270 million annually to Oxford’s economy, with a £24m yearly boost in spending to local businesses.

Kevin Minns, managing director of OxWED, said: “It’s excellent news that the Oxpens planning applications are heading to committee.

“They are the result of a great deal of hard work by many people and offer a real opportunity for exciting change in this part of the city.

“Oxpens can be transformational for Oxford.  Not just because it will take a brownfield and under-used site and turn it into a vibrant new area of the city.  But because it will bring the largest number of new homes proposed in Oxford city centre for a generation and because it is arguably Oxfordshire’s most sustainable location for new jobs by fact of being so close to the station.

“Put that all together with the proposals for outstanding public facilities like the new amphitheatre and its sizeable play space and wrap that up with an opened up riverside location for more people to use and enjoy and you can see just how much Oxpens will bring.

“We look forward to the planning committee and we welcome the planning officer’s recommendation for approval.”

The project team includes Hawkins Brown on architecture, Gillespies on landscape architecture and Prior & Partners on planning.

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