Local residents have spoken out against plans to redevelop the site of a defunct gym on Cowley Road to create twelve en-suite student flats.
For the plan to go ahead, it must be sanctioned by Oxford City Council, but four councillors, including Council Leader Bob Price, have referred the matter to the Cowley Area Committee for discussion.
Price said, “We are never certain on the dimensions on planning applications like this in East Oxford, or the impact they will have on the community. So members often call in proposals like this so we can look at them closely. It gives the public and council members a chance to look at everything in detail, and potentially ask for necessary changes.”
He cited the concerns felt by local residents as, “collection of rubbish, maintenance, noise and parking,” adding that, “all plans need to be looked at carefully in respect of the area, especially in a crowded community like that on Cowley Road.”
The developers have sought to placate local residents by assuring them that students accommodated in the new apartments will be forbidden from bringing cars with them.
Elizabeth Mills, Chairperson of the Divinity Road Residents’ Association, complained that this policy is “completely unenforceable.”
Earlier this week, residents also held meetings with the University over other plans to demolish three buildings in order to make way for a new medical research centres.
Members of the local community fear that the £57 million development will only fuel the traffic problems.
Some students have branded the current outcry over accommodation mere “scapegoating”.
“They’re just taking the opportunity to whine about the students,” said Tom, a second year student at Brookes’ Headington Campus, who lives near the Cowley Road, and brings his car with him to university. “It’s a student area; if you don’t like students, maybe you shouldn’t live here”.
Elizabeth Mills, however, worries that “the University is turning Cowley Road into a student union. More houses for families need to be repossessed from students, who do not contribute to the local community.”
Julia Hamilton, a Visiting Student at Mansfield College, sees the increasing levels of student accommodation as a positive development.
“At the moment private buy-to-let owners have this monopoly offering substandard housing at a premium because students have no choice but to take it,” she said.
“Perhaps if students were offered nicer accommodation, there would be more of an incentive to look after the local area.”
A residents’ meeting about the plans was held on Wednesday night and public consultation over the application continues.
