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New Westgate Shopping Centre gets final approval

Released on 9 Mar 2007

Capital Shopping Centres has been given final approval for a major redevelopment of the existing Westgate Shopping Centre in the West End of Oxford.

Legal agreements were signed earlier this week which will enable building work on the new development to start later in the year. The target date for completion is Autumn 2011.

The extension, partial redevelopment and refurbishment of the shopping centre on the 5.7 hectare site will take almost four years to complete and will provide:-

• 750,000 sq ft (69,700 m2) of shopping
• A new four storey John Lewis department store which will front on to Thames Street
• A brand new modern multi-storey car park which will provide 1,335 spaces with Blue Badge provision including dedicated Shopmobility spaces on the ground floor
• Open streets, linking the department store and two retail blocks including a roof top restaurant and a "green roof"
• 127 new residential units - 50 per cent of which will be affordable units - incorporating high standards of energy efficiency and sustainability.
• A refurbished and modernised Public Central Library with a new external entrance fronting onto Queen Street, just west of Bonn Square
• A new public pedestrian and cycle route will be established along the side of Castle Mill Stream
• A £3.8 million programme of improvements to public transport in Oxford to help get visitors to the Centre
• Major improvements to the streets surrounding the shopping centre, including changes which will help deliver the full pedestrianisation of Queen Street.

Councillor John Goddard, Leader of Oxford City Council, says: "The redevelopment of the Westgate is a welcome landmark on the way to the renaissance of the whole of the West End of the city centre.

"This development is a major step in regenerating a neglected part of Oxford's city centre. It will include not only very welcome shopping facilities but it also brings more housing, including affordable housing, into the city centre.

"The officers of both the City and County Councils have worked together extremely hard to grasp this opportunity."

Councillor Keith Mitchell, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, who are working in partnership with both the City Council and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) on the West End Renaissance Programme, says: "This is another significant step in regeneration of the West End of Oxford City Centre.

"Last year we had the opening of the Castle development and now we have this exciting retail scheme to which we can look forward to and which will significantly improve the retail offer in the City."

Peter Cusdin, Development Projects Director at SEEDA, says: "The granting of planning consent for the Westgate Shopping Centre marks another important step in the regeneration of Oxford's West End, providing many much-needed new facilities for the city. SEEDA is fully supportive of the work being done in Oxford's West End by the City and County Councils and looks forward to work commencing on site."

Speaking on behalf of The Westgate Partnership, Richard Cable, Development Director of Capital Shopping Centres, says: "This is excellent news. We are now focused on the delivery of this exciting project and will be in a position to appoint a main contractor within the next few months.

"Enabling works, including further archaeological surveys and service diversions will be undertaken during the second half of this year and work in the main contract will start in 2008."

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