New plans have been unveiled for redeveloping Oxford prison, writes Matt Childe.

The prison and former castle, off New Road, closed down three years ago - but Oxfordshire County Council has been unable to agree a project to open it to the public.

The Osborne Group, led by entrepreneur Trevor Osborne, has now submitted plans for a hotel complex, including new council offices, restaurant, museum and health and fitness club.

Cllr Catherine Fulljames, a member of the council's prison site working group, said: "What we see in the plans is quite exciting. "My personal view is that we should go forward with this if it is viable. This has been going on for a long time and we have not been getting anywhere.

"If we lose this one, we really are back to the drawing board."

The Osborne Group has shown interest in the prison site before, but councillors chose to pursue proposals from a consortium led by Norwegian shipping firm Kvaerner.

Negotiations with the Kvaerner consortium collapsed in January, prompting criticism of the way the project was being handled. A major stumbling block was that the council insisted that no public money was spent on the development.

The Osborne Group's proposals involve fewer alterations to County Hall and the entrance to the prison site.

County Hall would be converted into shared council offices and conference facilities.

New council offices would be provided in B-wing, on the eastern side of the prison site. Other possible features include a sculpture garden, a new public square and a wine bar. A financial assessment of the project, which will be discussed by councillors next Tuesday, said that development would still require "gap" funding - but should be eligible for grants from English Heritage, the Heritage memorial Fund and the South East Development Agency.

Story date: Saturday 17 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.