Brookes approval 'makes mockery of conservation area' (From Oxford Mail)

Brookes approval 'makes mockery of conservation area'

4:38pm Thursday 25th February 2010 in

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A COMMUNITY has voiced its frustration after plans for the controversial revamp of Oxford Brookes’ University’s main campus were approved.

Oxford city councillors voted nine to three in favour of the £132m development of the Headington campus, which will house a new library, IT suite, lecture theatre, student union and cafe with an outdoor terrace.

Local residents and councillors say the development makes a mockery of the Headington Hill Conservation Area, declared 32 years ago to protect trees and important 19th century buildings in the area.

Susan Lake, chairman of Headington Hill Residents’ Association, who has lived next to the university for almost 30 years, said: “I’m very bitter. This development will affect the views from 15 homes very dramatically, but it will also affect many more residents who live in the area.

“This makes a mockery of the conservation area.”

Residents have also expressed fears that the student centre will create light and noise pollution.

At Wednesday’s planning meeting, Paul Large, acting registrar for the university, told councillors the Gipsy Lane scheme was “critical” for its future.

He said the university had significantly compromised from its original £150m plan, with building heights lowered and fewer windows to protect residents’ privacy.

But city councillor for Iffley Fields Elise Benjamin, who worked as an administrator at the university for eight years, said: “I still feel it’s too big a building.

“If it was an intelligently designed building it would have sloped down towards residents’ homes.

“There’s no doubt new facilities are needed but it’s quite clear that residents don’t feel they were consulted enough in the early stages of design.

“The frustration with these applications is that, once again, we are faced with pitting the needs of an educational establishment against residents’ needs.

“Residents made it very clear they wanted to meet representatives of the university, and it would have made more sense for the university to have gone into more constructive dialogue with the residents before submitting an application. I regret that hasn’t happened.”

Planning officer Murray Hancock told councillors the scheme would not harm the appearance of the conservation area, and views from Headington Road would be improved.

He said the plans also delivered a better arrangement of buildings.

Mr Large said the state of the university’s current buildings was untenable, adding: “The university’s academic reputation is at odds with its physical infrastructure. The application is critical for the university and its continued contribution to Oxford and Oxfordshire.”