“Oxford is uninvestable”: developers say sewage is blocking 18,000 homes
25 developers in Oxford – including several colleges, the company behind the flagship Oxpens project, and stadium owner Firoka – have written to the Government saying sewage issues are causing “a complete hiatus of development”.
Upgrade works to Oxford Sewage Treatment Works were due to be completed this month. Instead, as the Clarion reported last week, they will not be finished until 2031, with interim works ready by 2027.
The developers say uncertainty over Thames Water’s ability to finish the job on time has made Oxford “uninvestable”. In their letter to Government, they write:
No funder – particularly in a period where global capital is scarce and risk averse – will commit to the massive cost of bringing these schemes forward for development (let alone building them out) without the certainty that they can actually be occupied on completion. As a result, Oxford is facing a complete hiatus of development until the Interim Works are completed (and then verified as complete by the Environment Agency) in late 2027. This means the development of much needed affordable and market housing, plus commercial space, will not even start on site for at least three years.
An emergency summit was held last Wednesday with civil servants, the Environment Agency, and Thames Water, at the invitation of Oxford City Council. The 25 developers represented included Oxwed (the Oxpens development), Oxford North, OX Place (the City Council’s housing arm), Oxford Science Park, Firoka (stadium owners), both the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes, and colleges including Christ Church, Magdalen and Nuffield – all major landowners themselves.
At present, the Environment Agency is insisting on a planning condition that no new developments can be occupied until the sewage system has more capacity. The developers say, now that Thames Water has agreed funding, a contractor and a timescale for the works, these conditions should be lifted:
[The Environment Agency is] currently requiring them to stay in place to guard against Thames Water failing to perform as the EA is concerned about a legal challenge. We urge the EA to lift its request that a Grampian-style planning condition be imposed on developments coming forward in and around the Oxford area. This would provide certainty to developers and funders that schemes will proceed and to enable significant investment in this important part of the UK’s economy to flow again.
The developers’ appeal is addressed to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, and Secretary of State for the Environment (DEFRA) Steve Reed, who is responsible for the Environment Agency, as well as local MPs Layla Moran and Anneliese Dodds.
In January, Oxford City Council granted planning permission for the city centre Oxpens development, which includes lab space/offices, a hotel, 230 apartments and 260 student flats. The Environment Agency had recommended refusal, but city councillors agreed a condition stating “no occupation of any part of the development until we’ve dealt with the issue about waste water capacity”.
Last week, the Environment Agency confirmed it would only withdraw its objection if this condition remained in place. In a follow-up to the Oxpens decision, their planning specialist Michelle Kidd wrote:
We are clear that the wastewater challenge for this area remains. Thames Water have now provided evidence that satisfies us that the Phase 1 plan for the Oxford STW will provide sufficient wastewater capacity to ensure development can be accommodated. On this basis we are removing our objection to the proposed development providing that the planning condition provided by Oxford City Council is attached to the permission that ensures the development is not occupied until there is sufficient wastewater capacity.
But the developers say this condition is anathema to funders, and that the impasse is “essentially the result of a trust issue between the EA and Thames Water”. Kevin Minns, managing director of Oxpens developer Oxwed, is the author of the joint letter – suggesting that despite the grant of planning permission, work at Oxpens is unlikely to get underway before 2027. He wants Government to intervene:
As a result of the occupation restrictions requested by the EA, Oxford has become uninvestable. The situation as it stands is fundamentally undermining the Government’s ambitions for growth: the pipeline of developments being blocked total 18,000 homes in and around Oxford, as well as millions of sq ft of commercial space. We are therefore writing to ask for [Government’s] help in facilitating a practical solution to the problem.
Read more about the challenges blocking Oxfordshire’s new housing in our Infrastructure Week series:
Oxford Clarion