THE head of Oxford Preservation Trust has called for the owners of the Oxford Castle site to provide a clearer picture of development plans for 2017.

Land Securities, a partner with the Crown Estate in the Westgate Oxford Alliance, is currently redeveloping the Westgate shopping centre.

It bought the Oxford Castle Quarter from Trevor Osborne for more than £47m earlier this year.

The preservation trust has a long lease on part of the site and looks after St George's Tower, the Mound and Oxford Castle Unlocked visitor centre, which is run by Continuum Attractions.

Trust director Debbie Dance called for Land Securities to outline its plans for the Oxford Castle site before the revamped £440m Westgate shopping centre opens in October 2017.

She said: "Leading up to the opening of the Westgate Centre we would like to see Land Securities really investing in Oxford Castle and making it the old part of a new vision, and ensuring it remains a vibrant place.

"The Castle site is a great place for culture, it's full of history and it's car-free as well, so it's a great place for children and families to walk about.

"The new Westgate Centre is huge and when it opens it will have a huge impact on the city.

"We understand that the owners of the Oxford Castle site are thinking about how best to market the Castle site and how it works and like everyone else we would like to know more detail.

"An end is in sight for the work on the new Westgate Centre so in 2017 we would expect to see more focus on the future of the Oxford Castle site from Land Securities."

Oxford Castle was used as a prison from 1785 to 1996 and in 2006 the Castle Quarter, featuring the Malmaison Hotel, restaurants and bars, and Oxford Castle Unlocked education centre, was opened by the Queen.

Ms Dance said the trust held regular meetings with developers to find out more about their future plans and a meeting was scheduled for today.

She added: "The Castle Quarter is 10 years old and still looks absolutely fabulous.

"It would be great to see all the open spaces being used on a regular basis with more cultural events, like the Light Festival, part of which will take place here on the weekend of Saturday, November 26.

"People are very fond of the Oxford Castle site - by early next year we would like Land Securities to tell us what its intentions are for the site.

"The Malmaison hotel does very well but we need the site to come together as a whole and Land Securities are experts in achieving that."

Land Securities has not yet commented.