St Hilda's College Plan Student Development in Oxford

Plans for a student accommodation development in Oxford have been submitted by St Hilda's College.

Proposals for the new 72-bed accommodation scheme were submitted by the college to Oxford's City Council last month.

The demolition of the existing lodgings, car park, gym and storage units were put forward last year. The development will replace the existing buildings on the site, with the student accommodation portion spanning two buildings. A replacement to the principal's lodgings, new welfare facilities and gym will also be constructed.

The two student accommodation blocks will be called the 'Meadow' and ' Villa' buildings, consisting of 42 and 30 beds respectively. The 'Meadow' building will stand three and four storeys in height, whilst the 'Villa' building will be four storeys.

A planning statement prepared Turnberry Consulting detailed: "Principally, 72 students will be housed within purpose-built college accommodation, which equates to the release of 29 family homes, easing the pressure on the local private housing market.

"Further public benefits include the improvement of the setting of existing buildings on the site, gains in biodiversity and tree canopy cover, internalising the wider community impacts of student life within the site, rather than community, and enhanced public access to the college grounds.

"The objective of St Hilda's College is to ensure that all undergraduate students, who wish to live in college accommodation, are able to be housed on-site.

"At present, the distribution of undergraduates and postgraduates is less than ideal, with students dispersed across various sites."

Concerns have ben raised by Christ Church college Oxford who stated: "The proposed redevelopment will have significant implications for the setting of the college.

"In particular, Christ Church owns the 40-acre meadow, a rare open space and historic managed landscape at the heart of Oxford.

"We believe that St Hilda's proposals are driven by a desire to create a certain number of student rooms with little or no consideration or sympathy for the way they will be seen from Christ Church Meadow."