Oxford University unveiled plans in a public exhibition last week to integrate the Park Hospital in Headington and the neighbouring Old Road Campus into a new medical research park.
The University is looking to combine the two neighbouring sites to create what university spokeswoman Clare Woodcock describes as a “centre of biomedical excellence.”
The Old Road Campus is the main site for the University’s Medical Sciences Division and one of the foremost biomedical research centres in the UK.
The University is in the process of purchasing the 28 acres on which the Park Hospital now sits. The new land, adjacent to the Old Road campus, will provide capacity for further research facilities to be developed.
According to Clare Woodcock “the Park Hospital is hugely significant for the University and the City as it will tailor medical research to the specific needs of the local population. It will also provide residents with access to cutting edge medical care within the University teaching hospitals.”
“The centre will attract the best and most talented staff with knock-on benefits to the quality of the expertise available to the NHS,” she added.
Park Hospital is currently occupied by the Oxford Health NHS foundation Trust and will relocate over the next 10-15 years.
The exhibition on the 28th and 29th May presented the University’s plans on the integration of the two sites. It was an opportunity for local residents to bring up their concerns at the prospect of increased congestion in the area as a consequence of the development.
Hilary Rollin, of Old Road and a member of the Highfield Residents’ Association told the Oxford Mail: “Congestion around here is already horrific. Our objective is to work closely with the university on this.”
The University has said it will review feedback ahead of submitting an outline planning application to Oxford City Council during the summer.
