OUSU confirmed late on Thursday night that members of the University Congregation had triggered a postal vote on a motion to remove the top floor of the Castle Mill accommodation complex.
Members present at the meeting on Tuesday 10th February had voted not to remove the top floor, with 210 (28 per cent) voting in favour of the proposal and 536 (72 per cent) against.
OUSU issued a statement, which read, “The officers at OUSU are disappointed that following a resoundingly clear decision from Congregation to prioritise student welfare and the wider Oxford community over aesthetics, a postal vote has been called.”
It went on to explain, “The decision taken by a small but sufficient number of people to unnecessarily bring the decision made on Tuesday into question serves as another threat to residents of Castle Mill, students, and other people living in Oxford who will be hit with further rent spikes if this resolution passes.
“OUSU will be continuing to campaign to save much needed accommodation for students, especially families and disabled students, from a minority of voices.”
Castle Mill, the graduate accommodation complex by Port Meadow, has been an ongoing source of controversy since planning permission was granted in February 2012.
Many, including permanent residents of Oxford and environmental groups, have been critical of the £21.5m development, which purportedly blocks out Port Meadow’s famous view of Oxford’s ‘dreaming spires’.
The motion to remove the top floor was originally proposed in January after an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report found that the buildings had a high “adverse impact” on Port Meadow, the Oxford skyline, the Thames, and St Barnabas Church. It suggested three options to rectify this. The University has previously preferred option one – in essence, to camouflage the buildings.
However, some members of the University Congregation argued that this did not rectify the problem. The motion, proposed by Diarmaid MacCulloch, Rev. Professor of the History of the Church at St Cross College and a TV historian, favoured option three: removing the top floor. This was estimated to cost over £12 million, would remove 38 bedrooms and require residents vacate the buildings for a year.
This motion was met with opposition from the University administration and OUSU, who raised concerns due to the cost, as well as the impact it would have on its graduate residents with families. On Tuesday, over 50 students attended a protest held outside the Sheldonian, where the vote was taking place, to demonstrate their disapproval with the proposed solution. The demonstrations were supported by OUSU after Council voted to “mandate all Executive Officers to attend the demonstration” and to “permit the expenditure of up to £50 from OUSU’s discretionary budget”. Various JCRs and MCRs, as well as OULC, also officially condemned the decision and sent members to the demonstration.
Nick Cooper, OUSU VP-elect for Graduates, told Cherwell, “I’m deeply disappointed that some members of Congregation have chosen not to respect the overwhelming view taken on Tuesday, and in doing so, once again failed to consider the devastating effect option three would have on future graduate students – especially families and disabled students – with insufficient housing for potentially years to come.
“The arguments in Congregation that this would ‘only’ affect a few hundred students – for the benefit of a view – completely failed to recognise the immense difficulties that would come with further reducing the poor amount of graduate housing available, with the extra kicks in the teeth that the cost will almost certainly raise Oxford rents and result in curtailing graduate scholarships, with graduate funding already such a critical problem.”
The Save Port Meadow Campaign commented that they were pleased with “the fact that at Congregation the University finally expressed regret for the terrible harm it has caused to some of Oxford’s most famous views. It was also heartening to note that even those opposing the motion to lower the flats did not seek to defend them. The tone was very much of shame and sorrow and a promise that this will never be allowed to happen again. However, until something very significant is done to mitigate the appearance of the flats, the damage to the views remains. We now all await the proposal that the University submits to Oxford City Council to right this wrong.”
CherwellTV covered the OUSU protest outside the Sheldonian on Tuesday 10th February.
