page_title: Castle Mill
section_title: Development and controversy
hierarchical_section_title: Castle Mill / Development and controversy
caption_attribution_description: English: Castle Mill student accommodation blocks of Oxford University from Port Meadow, Oxford, England.
context_page_description: Castle Mill is a graduate housing complex of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England.
context_section_description: In 2010, Oxford City Council capped the number of students that Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University were permitted to have in private rented housing to 3,000 each. The Council was encouraged by local lobbies such as the East Oxford Residents Forum to use planning permission as an enforcement mechanism. If either University breached the cap, the Council threatened to prevent new buildings from being occupied. As a consequence of these restrictions, the Universities looked to develop sites for student accommodation in partnership with commercial providers.
  Since 2012, the Oxford University Estates Directorate, with the help of Longcross, have been developing the one hectare Castle Mill brown field site (400m × 25m), north of the existing accommodation, between the Cripley Meadow Allotments and the railway tracks, close to the southern end of Port Meadow, to meet the need for graduate places.
  The development has been controversial, since the four to five storey blocks overlook Port Meadow, an historic open area to the north with views of some of Oxford's skyline. Campaigners warned of damage to views of Oxford. There was an online petition and a "Save Port Meadow" campaign was established in December 2012. Concern was raised by the Oxford Preservation Trust, Layla Moran MP, the Liberal Democrats, and Green Party. Some members of Oxford University expressed anger. The development has been likened by a critic to building a "skyscraper beside Stonehenge".
  In February 2013, a local newspaper reported that Oxford City Council had entered negotiations with Oxford University to reduce the height of the buildings by two storeys. There was a protest and picket of Congregation, the University's formal assembly of senior members, at the Sheldonian Theatre in central Oxford. The protesters including members of the University, such as Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church and TV historian. Oxford University donors, such as Michael Moritz, and the University's Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Andrew Hamilton, were also targeted with letters by the protesters, warning that the buildings "blot out the unique view of Oxford's Dreaming Spires from Port Meadow". Campaigners claimed that the decision on the development was unlawful. The author Philip Pullman condemned the buildings; this was featured in the national press.
  In particular, views of the Grade I listed Italianate St Barnabas Church in Jericho have been affected. An internal report of 24 January 2012 at Oxford City Council stated "Photomontages show that from some parts of the meadow the view of the St Barnabas campanile will be obscured with the long unrelieved roof line cutting across in front of it." (See photograph to the right.)
  In March 2013, it was revealed that Oxford City Council was warned about the threat to the views from Port Meadow. The Head of Heritage at the Council reported on "the harmful impact", concluding that "There is no justification for this harm". The University submitted revised plans reducing the height of the blocks by 1.2m on 9 February 2012, yet the planning officer's report recommending approval of the revised scheme was dated 3 February 2012. The height change is seen by some as having a negligible effect in practice. The Vice-Chairman of the West Area Planning Committee said "I was told there had been no objections to the original scheme and as the revised scheme was designed to make it even less controversial there was no need to consult."
  In April 2013, it was reported that Oxford University had removed the topmost apex of the roof in its revised plans, rather than removing a storey. The University stated that it would not reduce the height of the buildings voluntarily and had estimated the cost of doing so as £10–20 million. On 17 April, masked protesters attended an Oxford City Council meeting, where it was decided that a high-level meeting between the University's Vice-Chancellor and the Council leader was needed.
  The City Council warned the University that compulsory measures could be taken to reduce the impact of Cast
caption: View from Port Meadow.
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