A NEW £11m education centre has hit its first hurdle after council officers blasted the project and warned it could harm wildlife habitats.

The Oxford Trust submitted plans last month to transform Headington Quarry’s Stansfeld Outdoor Education Centre into the UK’s first purpose-built hub for primary school science.

An innovation centre would also be built for office space to allow start-up firms and entrepreneurs to grow their businesses if plans are given the go ahead.

However, Oxford City Council environmental officers have since objected to the project altogether.

Ecology officer at the city council’s environmental quality team Sue Lawley said the reports contained insufficient information on the wildlife impact.

She also warned that paving parts of the site to create a car park would impact on some of the woodland and areas of grass.

She said: “The ecology report does not contain an analysis of the habitats that will be lost and their significance, or how their loss will be mitigated or compensated for.

“Good practice indicates that the development should aim for a net gain in biodiversity; this could be achieved by a reduction in hard surfacing or through a firm commitment to habitat improvement to the woodland or a combination.

“I am concerned that with the current layout the licence application may be unsuccessful because the terrestrial habitat links between the ponds to the west of the site, and the north and east of the site are virtually severed.”

She added that no assessment had been done on the impact on bats in surrounding trees ahead of the new development.

In response to concerns, project spokesperson Jude Eades said: “The Oxford Trust takes its responsibility for the ongoing preservation of ecology on the site very seriously and our plans for the environmental improvement of the whole site were a feature of the planning documents.

“The current ecological profile of the site is very poor; when we purchased the lease on Stansfeld on February 16 the quality of the woodland was declining rapidly, the grassland was very overgrown and the ponds silted up.

“Thanks to a partnership with Oxford Conservation Volunteers, we have already made great progress in clearing pathways through the woodland and revitalising pond areas, so wildlife, including newts and bats, can flourish.

“We want Stansfeld to become a showcase for urban woodland management and so are consulting ecological organisations such as EcoConsult, Sylva Foundation and the Freshwater Habitats Trust to make sure we do the very best for the site. We are also employing our own ecologist.”

Oxford City Council is yet to make its final decision on the project.