THE redevelopment of Oxford’s West End is “long overdue” and a new action plan needs to be drawn up for the area, according a city watchdog.

Oxford Civic Society chairman Peter Thompson spoke out after Government ministers were called on to settle a row over land at the heart of plans to regenerate the West End.

The disputed eight-acre site – between Oxford Ice Rink and the railway line – was formerly used by British Rail and is owned by a subsidiary of the Department for Transport (DfT).

Mr Thompson said: “The current West End Area Action Plan is due to expire in 2016 and with the new Westgate Centre and other new developments taking place it needs to be completely updated.

“The redevelopment of the Oxpens site is long overdue and a protracted row over the ownership of a piece of land is frustrating the city council’s efforts to implement some decent planning.”

The site was set to be handed to developer Exemplar as part of a multi-million pound deal announced in April, which included up to 400 homes, a hotel and office space at Oxpens.

The firm would then have formed a joint company to deliver the scheme with Oxford City Council, which owns another 8.7 acres at the site.

But during the summer Exemplar pulled out and the DfT company, London Continental Railways, revealed it was poised to put the land on the open market.

City council leader Bob Price has written to Communities and Local Government Secretary Greg Clark and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, asking them to intervene.

The city council sees the Oxpens site as a key part of plans to redevelop the West End, including the railway station, and the area south and west of Frideswide Square.

Mr Price said: “There are several developers who say they will partner with us as soon as we can acquire the land, but we are getting complete silence from the DfT.

“The redevelopment of Oxpens has already been given backing by ministers in the City Deal and it is central to economic growth in Oxfordshire over the next 50 years.

“We are baffled as to why the city council cannot just step in and take over the bid Exemplar made.”

A spokeswoman for London Continental Railways (LCR declined to comment and said there was no timetable for the sale process.

Mr Price’s letter was sent during the summer, but has been released to the Campaign to Protect Rural England Oxford branch under the Freedom of Information Act, which the Oxford Mail is campaigning to protect as it undergoes a review which could impose new limits on it.