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Doubts raised over £100m shopping centre revamp By Eva Astreinidou THE future of a new £100million shopping centre is in question after officials objected to an application for its redevelopment, causing further delay to long-awaited plans. The application put forward to redevelop West Way in Botley by developers Mace was set to go before Vale of White Horse planning committee next Wednesday, but this will no longer happen. The plans are in question after Oxfordshire County Council objected to changes made to the original scheme. Now, a campaign group is calling for clarity on the timeframe of the redevelopment, a year on after planning consent was granted. Many of the traders have already moved out of the West Way centre since the approval, leaving the majority of units empty. Last week, Dr Mary Gill, co-chair of the group West Way Community Concern, called for the changes to the original application, which included a new access junction, to be objected to. She said: “Approval of this application would contradict the conditions set out in the planning consent. “This would undermine the planning process and the public trust in the planning authority.” Chris Church, the group’s chairman, said the county council’s highways department objected to the plans in principle over the positioning of an entrance to the site.
He believes that the transport issues with nearby Westgate shopping centre, expected to open its doors in October, have impacted the plans for West Way. He said: “The county council is objecting to the development until they have a fuller picture of what transport impacts there will be after Westgate opens.” But he added that footfall is down with what remaining shops there are on site, and that the redevelopment needs to move quickly for the area to become a popular shopping destination. A spokesman for the council said: “The council has objected to an application for temporary planning consent that includes alterations to access and egress arrangements. “Those arrangements would result in the creation of a new access junction on West Way which would, at the very least, be there for a number of years and which then most probably would become permanent. “In earlier discussions with the developer at outline stage the highway authority previously raised concern and had rejected the idea of there being such an additional access on West Way. “Any delay that is resulting now is as a direct result of that position. To be clear, the issue has nothing to do with Westgate in Oxford.” A spokesperson for the Vale said: “The applicant is considering how to address the concerns raised by OCC and, as yet, there is no date yet set for this to go to committee.” A spokesperson for Mace declined to comment.
I would walk 500 miles...
Members of the Oxford PharmaGenesis team are walking a million steps for Diabetes UK Over 50 employees from Oxford PharmaGenesis are walking the equivalent of Oxford to the Scottish Highlands as they step out to fundraise in aid of Diabetes UK. They are taking part in the charity’s
one million-step challenge, around 500 miles for those with an average stride, that lasts three months from July to September. This means they will have to put in at least 11,000 steps a day to reach their
million over three months. That equates to roughly five miles a day. The team are aiming to raise £3,000 that will be matched by PharmaGenesis.
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