A HERITAGE group is hoping to work with Oxford University to create a pathway linking two community spaces in Wolvercote.

Oxford University is hoping to get planning permission for 190 homes on the former site of the Wolvercote Paper Mill.

A planning application has been submitted to Oxford City Council, and Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT), which owns Wolvercote Lakes – north east of the site – has come forward with an offer to the university.

Trust director Debbie Dance said: “It is our view that this development offers a unique opportunity for OPT and the university to work together to see if it is possible to join up two community areas to the advantage of both parties, and to the local residents.

“We have asked the university to explore, with us, the creation of a pathway or access route from the northern end of the lakes into the amenity area shown on the university’s plans, immediately north of the residential development.

“It would create a delightful pathway taking walkers from close to the railway line, around the lakes, across the field, into the public amenity area and thence out into the village via Mill Road.”

The Wolvercote Lakes, which sit close to the railway bridge in the village, were left to Oxford Preservation Trust by one of its supporters, Vivian Kirk, eight years ago.

Work started last year to clear and open the eight-acre site to the public.

The university’s scheme for the paper mill, which closed in 1998 and was demolished in 2004, will involve a woodland area to the north of the site near its boundary with the A34.

John Bleach, the chairman of the Wolvercote neighbourhood forum steering group, said: “I don’t know how the people at the end of Rosamund Road and Home Close will feel about this but people in the rest of the village I am sure would like to have another route around Wolvercote.”