Developers want two temporary car parks

5:08pm Thursday 11th October 2007

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Developers have submitted plans to create two car parks in Oxpens, on both sides of the ice rink.

They will tell city councillors that temporary parking for 880 vehicles is essential if the £330m retail centre is to open as planned in 2011.

The Westgate Partnership originally wanted to keep the existing multi-storey car park open while its replacement was being built.

But an archaeological dig and an inquiry have meant revised plans will now be submitted.

A two-level structure with 519 spaces on the field to the east of the ice rink would open in January 2009 for five months.

A second, lightweight two-storey car park is proposed for the other side of the rink, on the site of the existing car and coach parks. This would be open for up to 10 months.

Prolonged archaeological investigation on the site could see the construction programme extended from 44 to 50 months.

The timetable has also been hit by the delayed inquiry into compulsory purchase orders - now scheduled for December 4.

Work on the Westgate was due to start in the spring but will not begin until early autumn, 2008.

Development manager Julie Pears said residents' fears that the car parks would become permanent were unfounded.

She said: "When the structures are removed the areas surrounding the Oxford Ice Rink will be fully restored."

But Paul Sargent, Conservative councillor for Carfax, said the revised plans were a "disgrace", which would blight a widely used green space in the city centre.

Labour councillor Bob Price, who represents Hinksey Park, expressed concerns that a car park would create serious traffic problems in the city centre.