CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a university campus on green belt land were removed from a council agenda at the last minute.

Vale of White Horse District Council’s planning committee was set to give the green light to proposals at the historic Grade II listed Foxcombe Hall in Boars Hill.

However, the application was withdrawn so that a council report can be updated and provide ‘points of clarification’.

READ AGAIN: Plans for university campus set to be approved – despite hundreds of objections

The former Open University site at Boars Hill was sold in 2017 to Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS), as the Chinese institution aimed to make the 15-acre plot its first base in the UK.

The district council’s planning committee was recommended to approve the proposals, which include 60 student bedrooms, a 200-seat lecture theatre, library, dining hall, cafe and gym.

The council had received 303 objection comments to the application – compared to just four in favour or raising no objection.

Oxford Mail: Foxcombe Hall at Boars Hill. Picture: SavillsFoxcombe Hall at Boars Hill. Picture: Savills

The new campus could see the creation of 32 full-time jobs, while the economic contribution from student expenditure per year would increase to £1.6 million per year by 2024.

In October 2020, plans to open a B&B opposite the campus were refused as it was ‘considered to cause harm to the character of the area and to the purposes of the green belt’.

That scheme was designed to house visiting academics.

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This story was written by Liam Rice, he joined the team in 2019 as a multimedia reporter.

Liam covers politics, travel and transport. He occasionally covers Oxford United.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Liam.rice@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter @OxMailLiamRice