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Brookes Headington campus plans rejected

8:25pm Thursday 17th September 2009


CIVIC leaders tonight threw out controversial multi-million plans to redevelop Oxford Brookes University’s Headington campus.

Oxford City Councillors voted 20-13 against the £150m scheme at a full council meeting at the Town Hall in St Aldate’s.

After the meeting the university was unable to say whether it planned to appeal against the decision.

Just three weeks ago residents living nearby handed in a 1,064-name petition opposing the university’splans for a new library, IT suite, lecture theatre and student union on the campus.

They particularly feared a new six-storey student centre would create light and noise pollution, and “totally dominate” the area.

Then, in August, members of the city council’s strategic development control committee voted seven to five in favour of the plans.

But that decision was subsequently “called in” to full council, which tonight sensationally threw out the plans — against the recommendation of officers.

Campaigner Susan Lake, chairman of Headington Hill Residents’ Association, said: “I’m absolutely overjoyed with the decision.

“I think the councillors have fully understood our worries. This result is down to a lot of hard work and tireless campaigning by a number of people.”

Tony Joyce, chairman of Oxford Civic Society, who spokes against the scheme during the debate, added: “I don’t want to be triumphalist about this decision.

“It is certainly not a situation of residents versus Brookes.

“I’m pleased there is now an opportunity for Brookes to reconsider its proposal and try to come up with something which will be more acceptable for the whole area.”

The council chamber in St Aldate’s was packed with university representatives and protesters for the meeting, which lasted more than two hours.

Councillors said the primary reason for objecting to the development was that it would be “overbearing and have adverse impact on the conservation area”.

Green councillor Sushila Dhall, who voted against the scheme, told fellow councillors: “I came here tonight with an open mind but Mr Knight (Rex Knight vice-changellor at the university) admits that for some residents they will lose up to half-an-hour of sunlight every day.

“Surely that is something that could be easily adapted.

“That they are not doing that shows an unwillingness to co-operate and work with the local neighbourhood.”

Paul Large, acting registrar at Brookes, said: “We are disappointed the city council has rejected our plans at this time. These are comprehensive and considered proposals, the result of much dialogue, consultation and debate since 2005.

“We will take away the feedback from the council’s decision this evening and consider our next course of action.”


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Your Say YourOxford

Simon33, Oxford says...
11:29pm Thu 17 Sep 09

Hm, provocative.

The same day work and jobs on the Bodleian Library overflow annex starts in Swindon.

Here, work and jobs stopped by the same self-important retired/NIMBY/ preservationist tendencies that whey want to wrap Oxford up in aspic and the rest of us to go and work and shop and live elsewhere.


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jockox3, Headington Hill, Oxford says...
1:08am Fri 18 Sep 09

In terms of the soundness of this decision though, the Bodleian project was a positively "marginal" decision. Officers there recognized that there were factors that could justify a rejection. With the Brookes application, not only has the council previously approved the overall idea of the Master Plan, together with central and regional government bodies ideas for investment in Higher Education in Oxford, but the officers were pretty unequivocal in their recommending this scheme to the planning committee who then approved it, before this.

They must be hoping, for the sake of the city's tax-payers, that Brookes will not in fact call their bluff and appeal, but will pliantly go "back to the drawing board". One way or another, more, or less, directly, it is the tax payer who will lose out for this, but I suppose that is the purpose of democracy - balancing out the various different ways of ripping off the people they are supposed to represent!

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Concerned one, Oxford says...
9:02am Fri 18 Sep 09

If Brookes appeal against this, presumably, the Headington Campaigners will foot any legal costs and not the long suffering tax payer of Oxford?

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scupper, Oxford says...
9:34am Fri 18 Sep 09

The Bodleian analogy is apt. If Brookes were to relocate to Swindon or elsewhere, with the resultant decline in economy as pizza-huts and coffee-bars and restaurants closed down in Oxford, the nimby-ists in this matter would be the first to cry "why don't THEY (i.e. someone else) do something about stimulating the economy?", why don't THEY create more jobs?" It's disgraceful that a group - comprising many retirees who have nothing to do with their time but lobby on nimby-ist issues - should torpedo a carefully-planned and publically-consulted development (over three years) by an institution that has just been named, yet again, "the best modern university in the UK".

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Joe Cooke, Oxford says...
10:40am Fri 18 Sep 09

It's a well known fact Oxford is a city full of Nimby's, look at the trouble Oxford United had getting a new stadium, look at the people moaning about building affordable housing on land south of Grenoble Road, people are already moaning about the london eye type wheel coming to Worcester street car park, whatever happened to the canal basin? people moaning about the new westgate centre shopping centre being built, people didn't want the town hall redeveloped etc etc , moan moan moan Oxford is full of pressure groups and nimby's.

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Agnes_c, Oxon says...
12:05pm Fri 18 Sep 09

I'm sorry, I don't understand what the 'Headington Hill' residents are complaining about. There is already a six-storey building on the Brookes site - and it has been there for YEARS! The new plans will cover exactly the same amount of land - i.e not a huge amount of extra students. Fine, if you want to continue to live looking at horrible '50's concrete buildings rather than a brand new, sustainable building. Typical NIMBYs who couldn't care less for the future of education - of course it would have been completely different if they had children wanting to go onto higher eduction - but they've all now flown the nest giving the 'olds' too much time on their (wringing) hands to complain about absolutely nothing. Disgrace, how can this country move on and get better if these lot won't let them.

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easyjobrob, easyjobrob says...
12:58pm Fri 18 Sep 09

Nimby, nimby, nimby!

This is just typical of a very small minority of residents in Headington. So they had a petition of just over 1000 signatories...how many did not sign it. I was asked and refused and yet they did not report that figure. When will these few realise that Oxford Brookes University is the economic heart of Headington and that the students, that are also local residents (and many do stay long after they have graduated) , are the life-blood that stop house prices plummeting and the undesirables that we find in other parts of Oxford from colonising this beautiful area of Oxford. For goodness sake people, we should do all we can to support this rapidly developing world-class university. What a great claim to fame it would be to have two of the world greatest places of learning in one city..surely this would increase the property value...is this not what is the main concern of these Nimbys?

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Jimbles26, Oxford City says...
1:30pm Fri 18 Sep 09

If Brookes do appeal the case, the various parties pay their own legal costs initially, unless Brookes win then the Council has to fit the bill. It would be very likely that Brookes would win an appeal.

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tribalamazonian, Oxford says...
1:37pm Fri 18 Sep 09

It seems to me that Oxford University gain all of the praise and respect in this city, while Brookes are pilloried and criticised for simply wanting to modernise. My friend, a Brookes employee, recently went on a work trip to another modern University and was astounded at the improvements made to various lecturing rooms and equipment suites. Of course, this will never happen at Brookes because local people, councils and anyone else that wants to take a pop will exercise their "busybody" side to ensure that OU reigns supreme and everyone within the ring road suffers for living in this city through reduction in employment and economy that improvement will bring.

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jockox3, Headington Hill, Oxford says...
1:41pm Fri 18 Sep 09

Jimbles26 wrote:
If Brookes do appeal the case, the various parties pay their own legal costs initially, unless Brookes win then the Council has to fit the bill. It would be very likely that Brookes would win an appeal.
This does not automatically happen. The appellant has to apply for an award of costs in most cases (in a really egregious case of a vexatious refusal the inspector could award costs without the appellant asking). But I think you are right, there would, I think, be plenty of grounds for an award of costs. It might, however, be a way out more diplomatically to recognize that they could get costs if they tried but would settle for the victory, so to speak.

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Baildon Bystander, Baildon says...
3:23pm Fri 18 Sep 09

It was interesting that one of the Green Councillors opposed the application on the grounds that some residents might lose up to 30 minutes of natural light a day. Perhaps they ought to be aware that, come the end of October, we lose more than an hour of it! The Green Party's unrealistic approach to life in general, and the economy in particular, makes me sick. They's rather people cycled everywhere and hugged tress rather than earned a decent wage - unless it's them, of course, who would lose out.

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Scaramuccia, Oxford says...
5:08pm Fri 18 Sep 09

I wonder what the students' reaction to their 'nimby' neighbours' spoiling tactics will be - students can individually make quite a lot of noise coming out of the student's union on Headington Hill on their way home if they want to - be prepared for a backlash.

Ordinarily university staff in such institutions would warn that such behaviour must be avoided for the sake of good community relations - will they be so keen to do so now I wonder ?

I also think that Brookes had plans to take down some of the current tall 'eyesore' buildings and replace with those on the now refused plans - so the residents will have quite a few more years to admire the beautiful 60s architecture on the Gipsy Lane Campus and Councillor Dhall ( a Green !) can sleep safely in the knowledge that they have contributed to the continuing energy inefficiency of the current campus for some considerable time to come.

Well done Headington residents and the half-wit city councillors who were swayed by them.

As you sow so shall you reap - Galatians VI ?

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communityperson, says...
5:07pm Sat 26 Sep 09

I was thrilled at the idea of coming to Oxford a while back - world famous university, enlightened minds, best of British etc.

The reality I see is a town stuck in a depressing time warp thanks to the influence of a few stuffy toffs who are determined to throttle any ideas to keep Oxford abreast with the 21st century and revive its economy for the benefit of the majority.

Shame on the Greens (for whom I and my friends will never vote for again) for rejecting an ecofriendly scheme that would save tons of energy and money as well as make Headington more aesthetically pleasing. Ignorance , hypocrisy or cronyism?

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