Sir – I write as a regular user of the West Way shopping centre in Botley. The Doric Properties planning application proposes demolishing the existing centre with some surrounding buildings, including Field House and replacing this with among other things, one ‘full scale’ supermarket, a cinema, student housing for 500 students and retail units that will no doubt be faceless high street names and not the current mix of varied, independent shops.


Doric claim they consulted fully and that their amended application reflects local opinion but with a small reduction in height (and still varying between four and five storeys high) and the wholesale demolition of all existing retail shops, including the Elms Parade frontage, the sheer scale of this proposal is out of all proportion to what is appropriate for a local suburban shopping centre. Yes, the current centre could certainly do with a facelift and I don’t think anyone would mind the demolition of the two brutalist concrete office blocks, but there is a good mix of independent shops, a choice of three supermarkets and all the retails units are occupied, which is more than can be said for many local district shopping centres.


Yes it’s tired and tatty but that does not justify wholesale demolition of everything in sight.


Let’s have a reasonable redevelopment that’s appropriate, in scale and in keeping with the surrounding area, so please — refurb and not replace.
I would appeal to everyone in West Oxford and its nearby villages to go online and examine this application at (www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/westway) and then place any objections, queries and comments, (quoting planning application ref. P13/V2733/FUL) online to: planning@whitehorsedc.gov.uk, or send to the Planning Officer at the Vale of White Horse District Council, Abingdon.
Robert Higgs, Cumnor