Oxford City Council approves extra £600k for Oxpens development

The Oxpens site is close to the River Thames and near the city's Westgate Oxford shopping centre

A council will spend another £600,000 to buy land for a key regeneration scheme in Oxford city centre.

Oxford City Council and Nuffield College are joint shareholders in the OxWED company, which will develop the Oxpens site between Oxpens Road and the River Thames.

It has previously said it could bring 3,000 new jobs and 300 new homes.

But extra spending was opposed by the Liberal Democrats' group leader who said it should include more homes.

Christopher Smowton said it was the "biggest and most significant site" the council has "the power to contribute positively to the balance of housing in our city".

The development area is close to the city's ice rink, Westgate Oxford shopping centre and rail station

But council leader Susan Brown said she was "astounded" by his opposition.

"It's not been a secret that this project is both about redeveloping a part of the city that is in sore need of it and is currently not a good use of the land there," she said.

"It is about creating a space that we can be really proud of as a city, regenerating it and ...providing homes and jobs in a really sustainable location."

In total, both partners have so far loaned £33.3m to the company, including £10.6m for land.

A public consultation on the planned development, which is close to the Westgate Oxford shopping centre, Oxford Ice Rink and the city's rail station, was held last November.