Campaign to save The Wheatsheaf ‘long way from victory’

But they say their campaign to save The Wheatsheaf, off High Street, is a ‘long way from victory’ – with fears it may never reopen.

The battle is now on to reopen the upstairs venue it and prevent it being left empty and unused.

Its owners had submitted plans to Oxford City Council to turn the first-floor venue into nine student flats, a shared kitchen area and common areas.

But in an unexpected change, the application was withdrawn following concerns from council officers who are thought to have been recommending refusal on the grounds of the loss of a community facility, the poor quality of accommodation proposed, harm to a local heritage asset and inadequate consideration of refuse storage.

The plans attracted a whopping 1,571 public comments opposing the idea – with a record number of comments on the Oxford City Council’s planning site.

However, planning applications are not decided on the number of objections and instead on whether they have breached a local or national planning policy.

In the Oxford Local Plan 2036 – a document that sets out where new homes should be built in Oxford – there is a rule in stopping plans which prevent the loss of community facilities.

Welcoming the move, one anonymous city councillor said: “This is a victory for making sure that our planning policies were strong enough to resist this sort of application. Now we need to persuade the owners to reopen it and let it be used as a venue again.”

Oxford band Bright Works performing at the Wheatsheaf, Oxford, in 2013. Picture: Henry Blyth

The editor of Oxford’s Nightshift music magazine, Ronan Munro, said: “This is just a small win in a very big battle. It is still in the hands of the owner and we are a long way from victory.

“Every time we want a victory, they move the goal posts. It’s a good piece of news to start with but it is a very small victory in the beginning of a battle.”

The Wheatsheaf is one of the last remaining music venues in the city, along with The Library in Cowley Road, Port Mahon in St Clement’s, and bigger venues like the O2 Academy, Jericho Tavern and The Bullingdon – all out of the city centre.

The campaign continues to save the venue and preserve it as an asset of community value which can be cited as a reason for refusing any future planning applications.

Registered assets can be compulsorily purchased by a council if there is a risk of them being lost to the community.

The Oxford Mail contacted applicant Glen de Unger through agent Tim Smith of Riach Architects in Banbury Road for a comment.

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