Oxpens: New Oxford complex could bring 3,000 new jobs to city

A council-backed development could bring 3,000 new jobs and 300 new homes to Oxford city centre.

Oxford City Council and the city's Nuffield College are joint partners in OxWED, which wants to develop the 15-acre (6.1 hectares) site between Oxpens Road and the River Thames.

A new amphitheatre could also be built in the mixed-use neighbourhood in the "highly sustainable location".

A full planning application could be submitted in early 2022.

A new hotel or a pair of hotels with a total of 350 bedrooms could also be built on the site, which is close to the Westgate shopping centre and a short walk away from the city's railway station.

Kevin Minns, OxWed's managing director, said: "It's a huge development site. It's a little hidden away at the moment and very under utilised and in need of redevelopment.

"It sits in the wider West End of Oxford plans for regeneration and that includes plans to upgrade Oxford railway station. It has huge potential."

OxWED said it was "too early to know an exact figure" of the development's potential cost because "the proposals are still emerging".

A public consultation on the current plans will run until the end of July.

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