Green light at last for Botley Road retail site

At last night's (October 14) Oxford City Council meeting, members gave Lamarsh Developments permission to demolish the Courts and Jewson premises and build five retail warehouses across 9,500 sq m, with parking for 300 cars.

Councillors had rejected the application at three previous meetings this year, following pressure from residents concerned about increased traffic.

Caroline Chipperfield, of Lamarsh Road, who led the campaign against the development, said afterwards: "I am completely gutted and feel let down by some city councillors.

"Some of them have simply changed their minds and I think they have embarrassed themselves by appearing to be so gutless.

"We will now be working with developers to try to get the best deal for residents."

Last month, the central south and west area committee members narrowly voted in favour of a revised design, after planning officers warned that they had no grounds for refusing the application.

The area committee was told that if the applicant successfully appealed against a refusal, the council could face a bill for costs of tens of thousands of pounds.

The committee's decision to approve the scheme was backed last night by 25 councillors, with 13 against.

This contrasted with the decision taken at the council meeting in July, when 21 councillors voted against the development going ahead and only 12 in favour.

Colin Cook, executive member for planning, who consistently voted against the development, said: "It does seem as if a lot of people have changed their minds, possibly as a result of legal advice."

David Sanderson, a spokesman for Lamarsh Developments, promised to continue to listen to residents' fears.

He said: "I will continue to meet residents to talk to them about their concerns.

"One of their major concerns is that it takes them a long time to turn right out in to Botley Road and we will talk to engineers about the possibility of creating two queuing lanes."