THE site of a former bus garage in Oxford is set to become a home for start-up businesses and student accommodation.

Berkeley Homes has submitted outline plans for the final phase of the redevelopment of the Oxford Bus Company’s old depot, off Cowley Road.

They include 2,000 sq m – about 21,500 sq ft – for new businesses on the western half of the site, fronting Cowley Road and Reliance Way, and 105 student study rooms in five blocks.

Former Lord Mayor Bryan Keen waved off the last buses from the garage in September 2004 when the company left the site it had occupied for 80 years to move to a modern garage in Watlington Road.

Much of the 10-acre site has already been developed for housing.

Oxford Brookes University has already expressed an interest in acquiring the new student flats, which would include common rooms and a launderette, but the scale of the new buildings and their layout has yet to be decided.

Under the scheme, the red brick Victorian building, Canterbury House, would be retained.

The building is of historic interest because it was the home and workplace of Henry Taunt, one of Victorian England’s most prolific photographers.

There is a blue plaque on the Cowley Road frontage of the property to commemorate the link.

Andrew Saunders-Davies, chairman of Berkeley Homes, Oxford, said: “We will be seeking to target local, fledgling businesses, the type of businesses that would perhaps otherwise operate in back rooms of houses.”

Car parking for the business units would be limited to 28 spaces.

Oxford City Council’s Cowley area committee will consider the planning application – which is recommended for approval – on Wednesday.

In his report to the committee, planning officer Murray Hancock said: “Start-up business units will aid regeneration and economic recovery in the locality, while additional student accommodation will contribute to easing pressure on the general housing market.”

The committee meeting is at John Bunyan Baptist Church, in Crowell Road, at 6.30pm.

Berkeley says it hopes work can begin next spring and be completed in 2011.

Tony Joyce, chairman of Oxford Civic Society, said: “We’re pleased the completion of this site is imminent and that Canterbury House is to be retained. It has a very special place in Oxford’s history as the home of Henry Taunt.”