A BUILDING which has been boarded up for seven years could soon be demolished to make way for housing.

Marywood House, a former home for people with learning disabilities in Wood Farm, Oxford, has been empty since Oxfordshire County Council closed it down in 2003.

The council says it hopes to sell the site for housing – including some affordable properties – with a fresh planning application expected in the spring. So far no developer has come forward.

The news was welcomed by nearby residents who questioned why the site had been left boarded up for so long.

Pete Bonney, 70, of Nuffield Road, said: “The place is an eyesore and to be boarded up for seven years is ridiculous.

“It is in a good area which could be well used, but nothing seems to be going on.

“People living around here want some answers.

“It all seems such a waste of good land.”

Ray Clare, of Nuffield Road, said: “There have been lots of planning issues with the site.

“It could have been turned into something for the community to use, or bulldozed to make way for new housing.

“As it happens, nothing has been done, and it just does not look very nice at all.

“It would be good if something were done.”

Urmin Gibson, of Leiden Road, added: “Anything has got to be better than a boarded up home and it would be good to see work starting there.”

In 2006, the Oxford Mail reported that then city councillor Clare Kent was calling for the 21-room building to be turned into social housing.

At the time, the county council planned to sell the building and reinvest the proceeds into social and health care.

An application for outline planning permission for housing development was submitted in May 2003.

But it was rejected by Oxford City Council’s north east area committee because it did not contain any social housing.

The county council had an appeal dismissed by a planning inspector in May 2005.

In 2005, the Oxford Local Plan said the site could be redeveloped for housing, but community and primary health care facilities should be provided elsewhere on the estate.

Asked why the property had stayed boarded up for seven years, a county council spokesman said it had to identify a new site for those facilities before it could press ahead with its plans for housing.

He added:“The county and city councils are working together to ensure that appropriate community facilities can be provided at Wood Farm School, following which the Marywood House site can be released for development.”

Do you know of other council properties left empty for years? Call our newsdesk on 01865 425500 or send an email to news@oxford mail.co.uk