Funding commitment takes Oxpens forward
WORK CAN NOW PROGRESS ON PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS, CONSULTATION AND FUTURE PLANNING APPLICATION
Oxford City Council and Nuffield College have both confirmed their funding commitment to enable the Oxpens site to progress.
In separate meetings held on 10 March, both shareholders in OxWED, the joint venture between Oxford City Council and Nuffield College which is responsible for Oxpens, agreed to commit up to £1 million each (total up to £2 million) to progress the indicative proposals through to the planning application stage.
Work can now move forward to prepare illustrative designs for public consultation later this summer.
Additional technical work and studies will also be carried out to inform the emerging proposals and ensure they provide an exciting, deliverable, viable and appropriate re-use of the site.
Kevin Minns, Managing Director at OxWED, said: “Oxpens as it is today is a largely under-used and undiscovered part of the city centre with the potential to do so much more for Oxford. Its redevelopment is needed and necessary to contribute to Oxford’s growth and to address some of its challenges. It’s not a question of ‘if’ but of what, how and for whom – and of doing things in the right way to achieve the best possible regeneration. With the funding commitment now in place, we can get on with developing a great set of proposals informed in due course by conversations with stakeholders and the community, and by comprehensive technical assessments.”
Next, OxWED will be putting in place a programme for consultation and for the methodical development of its current indicative proposals into a future outline planning application. The goal is to submit the outline planning application by early 2022.
Oxpens will deliver both homes and new employment/business space for the city – potentially supporting over 3,000 jobs and the provision of around 450 residential dwellings.
The emerging and early-stage designs are for a mixed-use development, with a range of potential residential uses across a total of 15 acres anchored around high-quality public realm and making the most of its relationship with the river.
The conceptual and preparatory work that has informed the designs to this point will now be expanded significantly. Over the next six months, OxWED will be commissioning further technical studies, appointing experts to come in alongside existing team members including masterplan architects Hawkins Brown and landscape architects Gillespies, and will progress consultation with statutory and technical stakeholders alongside public consultation with the community.
The funding decisions were taken by Oxford City Council’s Cabinet at a meeting on 10 March and by Nuffield College’s Governing Body held on the same day.
