CONCERNED residents crowded together to 'Fight the Height' of the proposed West Way redevelopment in Botley. 

Families turned out in their dozens outside Cafe Aloha in The Square to voice their fears that Mace's plans for the neglected area are "too much". 

Members of West Way Community Concern led the protest, wearing tall hats and holding '20 is plenty' signs as symbols of their objection. 

Oxford Mail:

Shoppers stopped to listen to the group as they voiced their concerns

Doctor Mary Gill, co-chairwoman of the group, said: “I’m pleased to get so many people here again, even after three years fighting the battle. They are not saying ‘just let them get on with it’.

“We just want something that’s right for Botley. It’s too high. There will be no sunshine in here at all and because it’s so big there will be too many cars. Physically this area can’t take that amount.”

Mace's multi-million pound plans for the makeover include an eight-storey block of one and two bedroom apartments and studios, and a 122-bedroom hotel which will be seven storeys high.

Accommodation for 262 students and academic staff will be built on top of retail spaces, reaching a height of five storeys.

There will also be a 320-space car park and twenty-two retail units. 

Oxford Mail:

Another of West Way Community Concern's co-chairwomen, Caroline Potter who lives nearby in Seacourt Road, agreed that the plans were too much.

The 39-year-old said: “We want them to propose something more sensible. It’s just too much in this limited site. When you combine several large dense buildings it’s going to make it feel very enclosed – that’s really hard to visualise.

"That’s why we had the model made, so people can visualise how the buildings relate to each other. We are not here to tell people what to think but to make sure they really have a sense of what’s on offer.”

Cumnor resident Peter Lister, who regularly visits West Way as his nearest shopping centre, ran stalls at the protest.

They featured a model of the development which the group commissioned from Oxford Hackspace, a community-run workshop, and even an edible cake interpretation of the designs.

Oxford Mail:

Residents listen to Peter Lister talk about the newly-built model

The 51-year-old said: “Everybody agrees that we need redevelopment but we need something which will work, that isn’t too big and won’t change the character of the area. We are trying to keep it reasonable.”

Lorna Berrett, another chairwoman of West Way Community Concern, lives a few minutes away from West Way in Arthray Road.

She said: “The council listened to us last time and we got changes then. We can get changes again. It’s not good enough. It’s still too high. People want improvement but we want what’s best.”

Arthur House is one of the co-owners of Elms Parade in the site which has been in his family for three generations.

He said: “They have addressed the majority of our concerns over what Doric were planning, but it’s too high.”

The 78-year-old said that there would be too many students if the plans went ahead as they are, and that the height of the buildings could reduce air quality.

Members of the concern group addressed the audience to a round of applause, urging them to make their objections known if they wanted to have a say in the plans.

They were warned: “If you don’t object nobody is going to do it for you.”

Oxford Mail:

A huge length of paper was rolled out to signify how tall buildings might be

They want the proposed apartment block, which would reach 32.2 metres, to be reduced to 20 metres.

Residents have until Thursday, April 14 to submit their comments to the Vale on the application.

For more information on the plans, search using application number: P16/V0246/FUL on the Vale's website.