A building project by the University is set to demolish part of Little Clarendon St, threatening important community hubs including Common Ground Cafe.
Residents of Little Clarendon St have received notice of plans by the University to replace the building, including the ground floor shop space, with new university facilities, including graduate accommodation.
A poster for the public consultation reveals the scale of the University’s plans, which involve the demolition of 25 Wellington Square and the development of properties on the Western Terrace. The poster describes the buildings at 25 Wellington Square as “life expired and poor performing.” Clare Hebbes, the director of the University’s development company, cited inaccessibility issues and poor fire regulations leading to the need to demolish the building.
Residents of the 25 Wellington Square building include Common Ground Cafe, the Oxford Hub (a charitable volunteering organisation to address local inequalities), and the Oxford Little Barber. Speaking to Oxford Mail, Chris Barrance, who runs Flow Records in Common Ground, said that the loss of the community hub would be “immeasurable”.
Asked about the development, a University spokesperson said: “We share the local respect for Common Ground and its role within the community”, though added, “The use assigned for this space was on a temporary basis only”.
The development is being led by Oxford University Development (OUD), a partnership company between the University and multinational financial services company Legal and General. OUD projects seem to be a new source of the ever-intensifying conflict between the University’s building projects, and community opposition. The University is under scrutiny from local and environmental campaigners for another OUD project in Kidlington, where a proposed £4bn ‘Science Park’ has been criticised by campaigners as “risk[ing] local villages being swamped by city expansion”.
Oxford University and Cambridge University together make up the country’s largest landowners. A recent piece in The Oxford Blue explores the extent of the conflict between the University, rich in swathes of private land ownership, and local interests. Residents and business owners await a second consultation on the Little Clarendon St project early next year, where eyes will be on the University to ensure that alternative provisions will be made so businesses can still perform vital community work during and after the development.