THE appearance of a major new development planned for Oxford city centre will have to be redesigned, after city councillors called it “detestable”.

The west area planning committee approved plans to demolish 4 and 5 Queen Street and the block behind it, leading to St Aldates, to create a ground floor retail unit and build 133 new student flats.

But as a condition councillors said developer Reef Estates must change the appearance of the new shop frontage.

In its submission to the city council, Reef Estates said development of the site would have no direct impact on any listed buildings and a “less than substantial” effect on the Central Oxford Conservation Area.

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The developer wrote: “The proposed development will significantly regenerate this area of Oxford and provide prime retail space for national multiple retailers. It will make a positive contribution to the Central Conservation Area setting with a quality and responsive design.”

But councillor John Tanner said he could not face walking past the new design in Queen Street knowing he had given it planning permission.

Speaking at the meeting last Wednesday night, Mr Tanner said: “I detest the frontage on Queen Street. I don’t think the people of Oxford would thank us for approving it and I believe it is possible to do better.”

Councillor Bev Clack said the plan seemed to extend the frontage style seen in Cornmarket Street, and said she would vote to refuse the plan on those grounds alone.

The scheme also drew criticism from English Heritage and The Oxford Preservation Trust, because the site may contain archaeological remains.

Both groups expressed fears the development would harm Queen Street’s Anglo Saxon orgins, with the preservation trust also expressing concerns about its height.

As a result, councillors also agreed a full archaeological report must be submitted and approved before work started.

Councillor Elise Benjamin said: “I want to be absolutely sure we’re not missing out on some discovery of huge importance.

“We should have the investigation come back to us.”

After the conditions were set, the committee voted unanimously to approve the application.

Oxford Preservation Trust director Debbie Dance said: “We were pleased by the strong stand the councillors made over the archaeology and the impact of the building in Queen Street.”

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