IDEAS for how to rejuvenate Blackbird Leys are taking shape after councillors gave agreement to ambitious plans for the area earlier this month.

Members of Oxford City Council’s executive board were presented with three options for district centre redevelopment, based on scale and cost.

Support was given to ‘Option B’ or ‘Intermediate Redevelopment’, a pared-back but still substantial project that will transform the area.

Scott Seamons, board member for housing, said: “This is close to my heart.

“A key part of the proposal will be a new community hub, replacing the current one, which is a bit of a labyrinth. We would provide that, and all the money.”

Existing facilities will be moved from the current centre in Blackbird Leys Road, which would function until the new one is ready.

The Agnes Smith Advice Centre, police and health services could potentially be brought under the same roof.

About 190 new homes will also be provided, including for key workers and 50 per cent of which will be affordable, in line with the city council’s planning policy. In the centre, most are likely to be flats and family homes.

More could be built on the Knights Road extension and on derelict land next to the Kassam Stadium.

Unlike Option A, the highest-spec set of plans, Option B does not contain provisions for renovating or replacing the Church of the Holy Family in Cuddesdon Way.

Mr Seamons added: “It has not been dismissed, but it’s not in Option B. The church is a beautiful and historic building and there is some attachment to that site. But it is not something we are completely opposed to. We continue to be engaged with the church.”

Permission has also been granted to seek and appoint a development partner, for which councillors agreed to allocate £300,000 from the council’s housing revenue account capital programme.

A series of would-be partners will present their ideas to Blackbird Leys residents, who will then be able to comment anonymously.

The chosen partner would help draw up detailed plans and deliver them on the ground, managing their own finances and appointing contractors.

Mr Seamons added: “We are thinking housing associations will be interested.

“They have expressed interest in the past.”

At the same meeting, the refurbishment of Windrush and Evenlode towers was brought back into focus.

Board members agreed to recommend that the city council approves an extra £1.75m for the project, making the revised total budget more than £20m.

Rising costs, as previously reported in the Oxford Mail, were cited as a key reason for its delay.

Long-time residents of the estate are already looking forward to the changes.

Blackbird Leys Parish Council chairman Gordon Roper said: “I lived in Blackbird Leys for 42 years and moved out 11 years ago.

“Everybody was excited then because it was a nice new housing estate. It was all council houses; they don’t build them like they used to. Now they’re just postage stamps.

“We only had half a dozen shops; an ironmongers, a hairdressers known as ‘Jimmy the Clippers’ and a fish and chip shop.

“It gradually grew bigger and bigger and it was absolutely brilliant. But then it just stagnated.”

He added that a makeover could boost the standing of the estate in the eyes of some Oxford residents.

He said: “The name ‘Blackbird Leys’ sticks with the older generation.

“People say ‘That’s where they had all the joyriding’. A brush-up would do it good; older buildings get taken down and people forget the stigma.”

Oxford Mail:

  • Looking back: Windrush Tower under construction at Blackbird Leys in 1961

Tony Gibson, 64, head coach at Blackbird Leys Boxing Club, Blackbird Leys Road, said: “I just want to know what’s going to happen to the community centre, because that’s where we do our training. We need a gym just for us.

“A new centre would be beneficial to the older generation, myself included. It would be nice to have somewhere for older people to go.

“I have lived in Blackbird Leys for the past 32 years. I haven’t seen any change at all.”

Lauraine Dineen, 32, a stay-at-home parent in Evenlode Tower, said: “It all sounds really good. I love living in the Leys and I never want to leave.

“I feel like I have put good roots down for my children, so any sort of development is great.

“Generally Blackbird Leys is kept very clean and well-looked after, but it’s a bit old and could do with a boost.

“I’m looking forward to the regeneration of Evenlode. I’m apprehensive because of all the noise but on the flipside, I’m excited.”

Aileen Devaney, 57, manager of Nash’s Bakery in Blackbird Leys Road, said: “These shops are getting so old that a lot of them aren’t up to standard. They could do with a revamp.”

“I think we need a new health centre. The one we have is too small and is for Blackbird Leys and Greater Leys.

“I know a lot of people that have trouble getting appointments; it would be nice to have another apart from that one.”