THE OXFORD PAPER Thursday, October 12, 2017 No.61
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Weekly leisure guide for in & around Oxford
Bike-mad Colin fanatical People power helps save United stars unveil new Page 5 3G pitches Pages 12&13 about chopper Page 16 music venue
£400,000 funding shortfall in community centre plans By Eva Astreinidou A FUNDING gap of £400,000 has to be plugged to fulfil a ‘once-ina-lifetime opportunity’ to create modern facilities at a community centre. New proposals for a £3.7million revamp of East Oxford community centre on Princes Street emerged this week, with a decision expected in late November. The city council has pledged a 60 per cent increase in investment after a month-long consultation on plans released last year – but say there is still a funding gap of £400,000 that needs to be filled. Councillor Dee Sinclair, executive board member for culture and communities, said the proposals are a ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’ to create modern facilities at the centre. She added: “During the public consultation last year, residents and users asked us to explore other opportunities to increase the budget for the redevelopment scheme. “City council officers and community centre users have been working together over the last year to achieve this, and these new proposals are the result.” The potential plans emerged after residents backed a previous £2.3m redevelopment proposal. The original plans included a refurbishment of the old school
and the Fusion Arts building, and a new two-storey building for film and music studios, offices and community space. The redevelopment was to be funded through the sale of the nearby East Oxford Games Hall and Film Oxford sites, along with a section of the EOCC site for housing. This would have generated £1.6m, which the city council planned to top-up by investing a further £700,000. But new estimates of the value of the land – which potentially would increase with student accommodation on the Princes Street site – mean it could amount to £2.6m which with the £700,000 would then leave a shortfall of £400,000 which the authority and users of the centre will have to work together to fill to carry out the new proposals. In response to the scheme, Oxford’s Green Party accused the council of ‘smoke and mirrors’ over the scheme. East Oxford Green councillor Craig Simmons said the council has failed to mention the new proposals involve selling off more of the site than previously planned. He said: “Yes, these proposals provide slightly more space than the last proposals consulted upon – but that is hardly a useful comparison as the last plans were roundly criticised for halving the amount of community space.”
No half measures for these runners
Thousands of runners took to the streets of Oxford on Sunday as they competed in the city’s half marathon with many running to raise cash for good causes. Full story and more pictures on pages 8 and 9
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