THE COMPANY newly signed up to deliver a £100m shopping centre at Botley says it should be judged on its building record in Oxford.

With proposals to redevelop West Way facing opposition from an effective residents’ campaign, the developer Doric announced that it was joining forces with Mace, a company well known in the city.

Mace has been involved in major Oxford University schemes for over a decade, beginning with the £21m Manor Road Building.

Since then it has been responsible for the extension of the Ashmolean Museum, the £50m refurbishment of the New Bodleian Library and the construction of the Oxford Said Business School.

Its other landmark projects in Oxford include the £50m Nuffield Department of Medicine and Kennedy Development, the £23m Oxford Molecular Pathology Institute and the £42m Old Road Campus Research Building.

Then there is the Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies and the Tinsley Building in Mansfield Road, the new home of the university Centre for Neural Circuits.

If some people had labelled Doric as an unknown quantity and questioned its ability to finance and deliver such a massive scheme, the same certainly cannot be said of Mace, which can also point to London landmark buildings the Shard, the City Hall and the London Eye.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mace is now a joint venture partner and 50 per cent shareholder in Doric.

Huw Griffiths, development director with Mace, said the company would be working to win over local people, with some changes soon to be announced to the original proposals. But he believed the company’s record should provide its own reassurances.

Mr Griffiths said: “Mace has been going for 24 years with a turnover last year of £1.18bn. And we are embedded in Oxford, working with the university. “The projects that Mace has done here speak for themselves. What we like to get involved in are quality, high-profile schemes that leave a good print on Oxford in terms of legacy.

“Mace has been in Oxford for 12 years and we intend to stay a long time. We have no intention of building something that we are not proud of. A reputation is hard to build and easy to lose.”

The Botley scheme would create a new library — but the 1960s shopping centre would also make way for a large supermarket, a multiplex cinema, a hotel, restaurants, cafes, community centre, a Baptist church and 525 student bedrooms.

Mr Griffiths points to the fact that Mace has been involved in a number of student direct-let housing projects, including a 346-bed student campus in Aldgate, London, with a 320-unit scheme now under way at Edinburgh University.

He said the changes were being made to the Botley scheme in response to concerns of local people and detailed changes recommended by the South East Regional Design Panel.

“As soon as we came in, we saw things we wanted to improve. We have done our research on the site.”

Mr Griffiths said changes to the hotel, student accommodation and public piazza would shortly be announced.

A video has been made to show how the redevelopment would change Botley.

Mr Griffiths said he was confident the construction could be phased to ensure existing local businesses could continue trading, without the need for them to move into temporary buildings or so called pop- up accommodation.

He said resident traders from Elms Parade would be able to move into spare empty shops in West Way during the first phase of building work, where some properties’ units would be available with the expiry of leases.

The initial phase of development and business relocations are expected to get under way towards the end of 2015. Traders would later move into their permanent new shops on Elms Parade when the second phase started.

Doric and Mace will be releasing their detailed proposals shortly.

But Chris Church, for West Way Community Concern, said Mace’s involvement would do little to lessen the extent of opposition.

Mr Church said: “The arrival of Mace as a builder will certainly put some money into Doric coffers. But, as far as we can see, it does not change anything about this proposal.

“Mace are builders and will only come into this if planning permission is given. But they are taking a very proactive role in promoting a scheme that is hugely unpopular in the local community.

“All the arguments against the scheme — it being out of character, increasing congestion on the A34 and Botley Road and so on — will not be resolved, no matter how sensitive the construction is.”

Mr Church added that the new video failed to show how out of place the scheme would be and how much traffic it was likely to create.

He said: “It is interesting that you cannot see the full height of the development. It does not show how out of scale with the neighbourhood this is.”

The North Hinksey Parish Council member added: “It is basically a glossy attempt to make it look nice. About 900 people have already expressed the opinion that they do not like the look of it.”

Eric Batts, North Hinksey and Wytham member on Vale of White Horse District Council, said the video was a good idea but could have come earlier in the planning process.

He said: “It is something we asked for in consultation last year but they were unable to produce it.”

To watch the video visit botleydistrictcentre.co.uk/ botley-animation.html