AN increase in funding to redevelop East Oxford Community Centre has been criticised as 'smoke and mirrors' by a local Green councillor.

Oxford City Council this week announced it would be expanding original plans for the Princes Street community centre following feedback from a public consultation last year.

The previous proposal for a £2.3m scheme was backed by three-fifths of residents but councillors were asked to look for ways to increase the budget.

New land values, based on increasing the residential density of plans on sites being sold off to fund the scheme, as well as the possibility of including student accommodation, have now upped that budget to £3.7m.

But city councillor Craig Simmons, who represents East Oxford, has criticised the authority saying: "What the council fails to mention is that these new proposals still represent a 30 to 40 per cent reduction in floor area for community use in the area and involve selling off more of the East Oxford Community Centre site than previously planned.

"Yes, these proposals provide slightly more space than the last proposals consulted upon – but that is hardly a useful comparison as the last plans were roundly criticised for halving the amount of community space."

He added Green Party alternative proposals that would have used a 'land swap' with a council-owned site in nearby Cave Street and resulted in more affordable housing were rejected by Labour councillors.

In addition to the refurbishment of the old school and a new two-storey building, the new city council scheme will include the demolition of the Fusion Arts building, replacing it with a new two-storey building for community use, and the creation of an improved outdoor space.

Overall, this will increase the floor space for community and arts groups by approximately 20 per cent compared to the previous proposal.

The redevelopment was to be funded through the sale of the nearby East Oxford Games Hall and Film Oxford sites, along with a section of the East Oxford Community Centre site, for housing. This would have generated £1.6m, which the city council planned to top-up by investing a further £700,000.

But the new estimates of the land value mean that an additional £2.6m could be generated to pay for the enhanced scheme.

However, even with the new income and the city council's £700,000 capital allocation, there is currently a £400,000 funding gap that will need to be filled to make the new proposals work financially.

Councillor Dee Sinclair, executive board member for culture and communities, said: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create successful modern facilities at East Oxford Community Centre, so we are making sure we get it right.

"During the public consultation last year, residents and users asked us to explore other opportunities to increase the budget for the redevelopment scheme.

"City council officers and community centre users have been working together over the last year to achieve this, and these new proposals are the result."

Responding the Green councillor's criticism a city council spokesman said: "Excluding East Oxford Games Hall because we intend to move users to other sports facilities nearby, the reduction in floor space is eight per cent.

"However, in practice we hope the new facility, because of its multi-use, partitionable and sharable spaces, will enable more community activities and groups in East Oxford.

He added: "Also, parts of East Oxford Community Centre have been condemned and cannot be used by the community – which is why we need to redevelop the site."

The city council’s city executive board will meet on Tuesday, November 21 to discuss the new proposals.