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End of the road at St Clement’s

Plans to build student accommodation on part of St Clement’s car park have sparked controversy in East Oxford, with local businesses claiming that the area would become a “ghost town”.

The private accommodation, proposed by developer Watkin Jones Group, would consist of 141 bedrooms and ancillary facilities over 4 blocks. Its location just off St Clement’s roundabout means that the site is a prime location for students from both Oxford University and Oxford Brookes.

Oxford City Council is expected to make around £3.5 million if the development takes place.

Sale of the land was agreed at a council meeting last May, after which a 10% non-refundable deposit from Watkin Jones was sanctioned.

The accommodation is to be built on stilts, but it is still likely that around 40 of the 115 spaces in the car park would be lost, raising questions about the future for businesses in the local area.

The six storey student block will be constructed in a conversation area and obscure the view of two listed buildings.

At the beginning of December a petition against the plan, signed by over 2500 people, was handed in to the council. Alan Grosvenor, owner of Sevenoaks Sound and Vision, described the development as “morally wrong”.

Despite the fact that the proposal dates back to 2005, Grosvenor claimed “local businesses knew nothing of the proposals until late August”.

He said that without sufficient nearby parking, the area would struggle, with shops and restaurants unable to survive in an area populated by students.

The Watkin Jones Group own independent accommodation across the country. On their website, they promote their buildings as “all well-appointed, and designed with the needs of today’s students in mind.”

The modern study bedrooms, placed in flats with a cluster of communal facilities, would provide additional choice for Oxford students living out.

The convenient location may prove popular in light of the queues every year outside North Oxford Property Services when student lettings are released, and complaints over the variable standards of Cowley’s privately rented housing.

However, Magdalen College, one of the closest colleges to the accommodation, has the space to offer a room to all undergraduate students for the duration of their degree.

Andrew Antoniades, a Magdalen student, remarked that “it is quite rare for someone to live out.

“After already spending our first year across Magdalen Bridge, most students jump at the opportunity to live on the other side, closer to town, and normally within college walls.”

Scarlett Benson, another student at Magdalen, also said: “I wouldn’t personally choose to live out of college when we have the opportunity to live in such a beautiful and historical building”.

Annabel James, a second year at St Hilda’s, commented, “[The development] sounds like something that would be very popular. Everyone at Hilda’s has to live out in second year so it would great to be that close to college.

“Cowley is generally seen as livelier but St Clements does actually have some nice places, and it feels safer than Cowley does at night. I imagine noise levels are less as well – so I think I would prefer it to Cowley, yes.”

It is understood that Oxford City Council had consulted the public about the principles of development on the car park on several occasions before it was adopted into the Local Plan in November 2005.

A spokesman for the council said that “a planning application was submitted for this site and the public were able to comment on it during the consultation period.”

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