Tag Archives: Said Business School
Mill Street benighted by building firms
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Tagged Gibbs Crescent, mill street, Oxford University, Said Business School, susanna pressel
Osney power station plans firm up
LAST WEEK the Said Business School put in its planning application to convert the old Power Station here in Osney – and today it held another consultation to show the business paradise it’s planning on the river.
Asbestos is being removed right now and responses to the planning application close around Yuletide. There’s rather more asbestos than the architects expected. Continue reading
Gibbs Crescent: we get the lowdown and the highdown too
So today we took ourselves to St Frideswide’s Kirk, on the Botley Road, the one that couldn’t afford to build a spire although it tried to crowdfund it back in the daze. We’d never been inside before. (See footnote after the pictures – Ed.)
We only knew there was a public consultation there this evening because we’d seen a flyer in our letterbox in Mill Street from massive housing association A2Dominion last week – there was no notice outside of the kirk, either.
Regular readers of this bog will remember that Mike Magee almost evacuated himself when he heard the explosion on St Valentine’s Day (please excuse picture).
Anyway, here below are pictures of the project that A2Dominion plans to replace and displace the current residents of Gibbs Crescent. A2D officials referred to the residents being “decanted”, which is a new one on us for people.
Once the residents have been “decanted”, which could take as long as six months or longer, A2D will set in motion an application for planning permission, for 140 units on the site, some going as high as six stories, with space for only a few car spaces for wheelchair access.
Some of the properties will be dedicated to social housing – as far as we can gather it’s a portion of the 50 percent of the properties that will be “affordable” housing. The rest of the non-affordable properties will be let. An A2D functionary said any profits will be ploughed back into the housing association. The whole process could take three or more years until completion.
Unfortunately, no plans are available from A2D on the World Wild Web (sic) and there were no handouts, so we took these snaps below. If you have any questions, A2D will be glad to answer them. Email Claire Bartlett – claire.bartlette@a2dominion.co.uk at A2D by Thursday, the 27th of September, the year of our Good Lord! 2018.
The redevelopment of Gibbs Crescent, of course, will further gentrify West Oxford, init?
And due to the redevelopment of the Old Oxford Power Station, there will be much trundling to and fro in the narrow Victorian street called Mill Street over the next few years, and of course the Botley Road too will, as usual, be free of traffic.
We believe that St Frideswide, the patron saintess of Oxford, and her kirk was probably based on a pagan goddess called Freya or Frigga or something. But that’s all lost in the past. Don’t mention Pusey!!!
Here at volesoft.com, we’re talking about the future. The future of Gibbs Crescent, one of the few – if any – social housing communities left in the centre of Oxford, hangs in the balance. One source at A2D whispered – of course off the record – that many of the residents will be glad to leave the centre of the City.
With a little help from their friends, of course.
Old Power Station plans show future is in boxes
The Said Business School (SBS) held consultations last Friday and Saturday on its future plans to redevelop the Old Power Station in Oxford to transform it into a conference centre and plush accommodation for executives and MBAs.
Unfortunately, Friday and Saturday here in Oxford were affected by snow and bitterly cold weather.
We asked about the consultation and a representative from the SBS said: “Given the difficulty caused by the weather we are planning to offer an additional date for people to view the boards and have the opportunity to feedback on proposals. The exact date has to be confirmed but we will give notice to the community. Let me come back to you in the next couple of days with details.”
In the meantime, details of the plans can be found here. Those plans include detailed views of the proposals, including plans to mitigate disruption to the local community on both sides of the river. ♣
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Tagged mill street, old power station, osney island, Oxford, Said Business School, SBS
Oxford’s Old Power Station to get poshed up
A missive from the egregious Said Business School (SBS)is holding a “consultation” on the future of the Old Power Station, on the Thames, just a slingshot away from Mill Street.
The message, in a bottle, is reproduced below.
But there are things the SBS doesn’t say, as well as things it does say, with implications for the original inhabitants of Old Osney Island, that’s us folk on Arthur Street, Mill Street and the rest.
The towering edifice was used in times of yore to test Concorde engines and then to host exhibits from the Ruskin. Then there was a health scare because it seemed to hold rare chemicals and stuff stored away.
Then a possibly dangerous harpoon was found, it seems. And squatters were evicted.
The SBS didn’t really respond to FOI requests, I think you’ll find.
Anyway, the document issued for the consultation, below, said SBS is pushing ahead with a proposal offering “bespoke conferencing facilities. It doesn’t say what the impact on the area will be, how many bricks will go, and how the poor people on Arthur Street will feel about huge lorries making a right turn from there past Kite 2.0, also known as the Porterhouse now and the effect it will have on both Mill Street and the Botley Road.
Hey, I guess we residents will have the chance to forewarn the planners ahead of the “conference”. It’s all about the regeneration of West Oxford, you know. ♥
Oxford City Council gives power station plan the nod
The Said Business School (SBS) has revealed details about its plans for the Old Power Station in Arthur Street and it seems that chief planning officer Murray Hancock, Bob Price leader of Oxford City Council and Roger Harmsworth all seem agreed that it is a “good thing”.
(See Said Business School makes bid for Old Power Station and Old Power Station seems to have a use.)
There is a public meeting about the SBS plans on the 13th of May.
SBS wants to turn the Old Power Station into a place that will provide short term residential accommodation for 160 students and other stuff. The students will be business suits and not undergraduates.
“Consultation” with local residents will precede several months of architectural planning with planning permission folllowing in mid 2016 and then a couple of years building the wing. The frontage of the building is Grade II listed.
Knocking bits down and building this wing will be an interesting logistical exercise given that access to the proposed site will be a bit net.
These screen shots from Google Earth show the area. The wine glass represents the Kite pub, on the corner of Mill Street and Russell Street. The Old Power Station is next to the river with the white roof. in the first screen shot, below.
An eighteen months to two year build will considerably disrupt the people who live round here. ♠
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Tagged Bob Price, mill street, murray hancock, old power station, osney, osney island, Oxford Power Station, Roger Harmsworth, Said Business School
Said Business School makes bid for Osney Power Station
AS WE mentioned a week or two back, Oxford University – which last year had zero plans for the Old Power Station (left) in Arthur Street, Old Osney, suddenly did a u-turn and said it would be leased to the Said Business School for 30 years.
You can see what the “congregation” said here. We are so looking forward to executive accommodations…
Anyway, down in Mill Street – we were written up in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales you know – and us moderns describe the shenanigans as Carry On Mill Street, we received a paper missive from the Said Business Centre inviting us to air our views.
Here’s what they had to say, sort of…. ♥
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Tagged Arthur Street, Canterbury Tales, chaucer, Congregation, mill street, old power station, osney, Oxford University, Said Business School, the kite
The blossom and the ziggurat collide
OUT HERE, in the wild wastes of Oxford, you see many a sight. So here is a blossoming tree with snow, and behind it the great ziggurat called the Said Business School. The wasteland beyond the fence is scheduled for development and the birds and the bees are feeling a bit parky. Also, Facebook is crap when you want to put up pictures, so I am doing it this way. Long live WordPress! ♦
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Tagged blossom, Oxford, Said Business School, the said business centre, trees, ziggurat