Tower blocks could be demolished

A radical vision for regeneration is set to be drawn up that could see four of the council-owned residential towers pulled down and replaced with housing 'fit for the 21st century'.

The city's five 'vertical villages' were built in the mid-1960s to meet post-war housing demand.

And for 40 years, Evenlode and Windrush towers in Blackbird Leys, Plowman and Foresters towers in Wood Farm and Hockmore Tower, Cowley, have provided vital social housing - 348 flats in total.

But the high-rise blocks no longer fit Oxford City Council's vision for social housing.

The redevelopment plan will face a major challenge in retaining the same number of homes - meaning other sites are likely to be needed.

Some tower-block residents have welcomed the regeneration idea.

Andrew Lygo, who lives on the 11th floor of Foresters Tower, said: "In 20 years' time they will not be suitable, they will not be fit to live in."

Councillors are to call for a report examining the redevelopment potential of the towers, .

However, Hockmore Tower will be treated separately because it is attached to the Templars Square shopping centre.

Already £8.2m has been set aside to bring all council flats up to the Government's decent homes standard by 2010.

The city councillor responsible for housing, Patrick Murray, said there was broad support for the plans and added that demolishing the towers could provide the spark for wider regeneration on the estates.

He said: "My personal view is I don't see them as what we want going into the 21st century.

"One of the problems is there is no real sense of community in some cases, although there are community groups working hard.

"You can be isolated from the community. As a form of housing it does not address any of the issues of living in a community.

He added: "The decent homes standard gave us the opportunity to look at how we provide housing in the city - and we should take that opportunity and be quite radical about it."

Keeping the blocks would "store up the problem" for another 30 years and he was not interested in selling them to developers.

Residents' views, including those who own their flats, would be considered and redevelopment would have to match or exceed present numbers.

And Mr Murray said similar problems had been overcome with the planned regeneration of Rose Hill.

He said "If we could not have the same numbers on the same sites, then we would have to have replacement units elsewhere."

"It's a radical vision and I think that's what's needed. I think there's a broad consensus to look at these things and take them forward."

A regeneration report is set to be commissioned and if plans went ahead the tower blocks could be pulled down by 2020.