THE first step in a £6m project to redevelop Oxford’s Gloucester Green area has been announced, with proposals for a restaurant.

Owner NewRiver Retail has submitted plans to turn two shops in the north-west corner into one restaurant.

It comes after the firm last month announced plans to redevelop the square into a ‘piazza’.

Critics said the area already has too many restaurants.

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A planning application lodged with Oxford City Council said: “These wider proposals will improve the retail tone of the area and provide a much-needed leisure destination around the public square.

“It is widely accepted that vibrant centres are more than just [retail shops], with [restaurants] increasingly seen as anchoring and complementing them and extending dwell time.”

The changes were required to build the “critical mass neccessary” for NewRiver Retail’s hopes for Gloucester Green, it added. The firm has put together wider plans which also involve revamping the “dated” George Street cinema, currently leased by Odeon, and removing the taxi rank.

Its application for the restaurant, which it would lease, said it was already in advanced talks with potential tenants.

But Oxford Civic Society vice chairman Prof Sir Clive Booth said: “Gloucester Green and its surroundings are already heavily serviced by restaurants.

“The protection of retail outlets is essential to prevent the remaining ones from withering away.”

Residents in flats above buildings in the square would also suffer from “excessive noise and smell”, he said, and no indication was given about where waste might be stored.

He added: “We are amazed that no plans are provided. There is no space at all behind the premises and the waste bins of other premises already fully occupy area available.

Ruthi Brandt, a city councillor for Carfax, said it would take the ratio of shops in the square below 50 per cent, the minimum allowed by council policies. She added: “The last three eating establishments to have opened in Gloucester Green and its vicinity have all closed within three months.

“Surely that is a strong indicator that this area has reached saturation.”

The plans must be seen by the council’s west area planning committee before November 14.

A spokesman for NewRiver Retail, Martin Hughes, said: “One of the units concerned was previously a restaurant use. Our aim is to create complementary restaurant provision which will heighten the attractiveness of Gloucester Green. We do not anticipate any problems with waste management.’’

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