Residents of Oxford are no shrinking violets when it comes to campaigning for what they think is right or against what they think is wrong. These campaigns routinely feature in the pages of The Oxford Times — the two most vociferous recent campaigns being against the new offices for the Probation Service in Mill Street and against the new centrepiece building for Oxford Brookes University in Headington.

The campaigns have brought forth concessions from both organisations, reported in this week’s and last week’s newspaper.

Last week we reported how Brookes had agreed to reduce its proposed building by a storey in height. It would achieve this by replacing the lost space underground at an additional cost of £5m.

It is without doubt a considerable concession. The extra £5m for a public body is a major consideration in these straitened times.

There were some campaigners saying last week that the University had not gone far enough. Its actions, however, do appear to have stopped the campaigners in their tracks for the time being. The Oxford Times has been inundated with letters about Brookes over the last few weeks but, this week, for the first time in a long time, it was complete silence.

We doubt very much that that means the arguments are over. However, we hope that there is a resolution in sight for Brookes’ plans.

There is no question that Brookes is right about the role that it plays in the local economy. It is a vital part of the community and it is only fair that it should be allowed to provide the first-class facilities its students deserve.

At the same time, the lesson for Brookes is it has to strive at all times to be the best neighbour it can be.

The Probation Service has yet to be a neighbour to the residents of Mill Street. Whether or not it ever will be is still to be decided.

This week it placed its plans on ice for six weeks so that it could look once again at some of the options. As our report this week shows, there are a surprising number of them.

Surely it is not beyond the Probation Service to find somewhere else that would suit its needs without upsetting any of its neighbours.

We trust it will not just be paying lip service to the residents of Mill Street with this new search.