Comment on the new construction at Court Place and Gardens from Friends of Iffley Village (FOIV)
People have lived and farmed in Rose Hill and Iffley for thousands of years. Court Place takes its name from the mediaeval Manorial Court on this site built next to the universally admired Romanesque church of St Mary the Virgin (c.1160). With all the land owned by The Poor Men of Donnington and bordered by then unspoiled meadows and fields, Court Place encompassed the legal, spiritual and economic centre of Iffley, Rose Hill and Littlemore.
Court Place has long attracted generations of distinguished tenants and self-absorbed undergraduates, church-crawlers, moody poets, dogwalkers, courting couples, at least one saint (Saint John Henry Newman) and authors galore eg The Revd Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll). Then in the 1960s, the University began encouraging post-graduates who brought with them, families! A modest range of asbestos-infested houses was built which are now being demolished in favour of pan-collegiate family housing development by Oxford University Developments (OUD), a joint venture between the University and Legal & General; all within an enhanced landscape including all-ages, all-ability pathways both within Court Place Gardens and Oxford University Woods. Please see the map.
With the community’s interest at heart, FOIV has been involved from the beginning with OUD and Legal & General to ensure the new Court Place will be sympathetic to its setting. We are now working with the constructor Feltham to ensure the impact of the work is minimised and a legacy for our community. Feltham has committed to exceeding the minimum conformance standards in the Considerate Contractor Scheme, Peter McCarthy (peter.mccarthy@feltham.construction.co.uk) is our primary point of contact.
Troth Wells
Chair, FOIV
July 2022
On your behalf, FOIV is responsible for preserving, conserving and enhancing the quality of life where we live, from providing welcome packs to overseeing planning and traffic issues. Join us at friendsofiffley.org. For any traffic or planning issues contact Phil Hart at planning@friendsofiffley.org. Contact FixMyStreet.com to get action on road issues.
Court Place: a lasting legacy – Current status reports by Oxford University Asset and Space Management and Nicholson:Lockhart Garrett
Residents are very aware of the disruption and permanent harm new building – and intended new building – can have on our increasingly fragile eco-balance. At Court Place, Oxford University Developments is seeking to enhance the quality of the new housing project in two specific ways:
First, by increasing the range of plants and animals found in the Rivermead Nature Park and OU woodlands, by removing low-quality trees and shrubs to give new, better specimens more room to grow and let more light reach the ground, encouraging natural regeneration of young trees as well as providing visitors with a new, all-weather woodland path (see map). This work is being done under the leadership of Iain Critchlow, the University’s Director of Asset and Space Management. Quality trees within Court Place Gardens are being retained and protected to ensure there will be no damage to existing root systems. A new planting scheme will encourage biodiversity through the use of species rich grassland mixes, native shrub and tree planting.
Secondly and equally important, ecological survey work has been ongoing at Court Place Gardens by Nicholson:Lockhart Garratt since 2017, led by Jo Alderton, including habitat surveys, water sampling for newt eDNA and badger surveys. In relation to bats we have inspected every tree in Court Place for potential bat roosting along with daytime and nocturnal surveys of the buildings. Feltham Construction is working to ensure no bats are harmed during the demolition/construction phases and roosting features for bats, swifts and owls will be integrated into the new buildings.
Acknowledgement
FOIV thanks Feltham Construction for sponsoring this insert into the Iffley Parish Magazine as part of their community outreach programme.
