Oxford City Council’s handling of the Oxford Brookes University proposal to develop its Headington campus has degenerated into a farce. Whichever side one stands on the argument — and we have not taken sides — the way in which the application was called before a full meeting of the council and decided in that forum, with many members absent, does little to instil confidence in the process.

This was an application that professional planning officers said should be approved and that the strategic development control committee, charged with making decisions on such schemes, had voted to approve.

The processing of planning applications is a quasi-judicial role — strictly speaking it is a process of applying rules and regulations to come to a conclusion, and it is not a matter of opinion.

As a result, there are huge dangers in allowing planning applications to be called before full meetings of any council where hard-headed application of the rules is not top of the agenda.

Added to that, there were 13 councillors missing from the debating chamber, significant enough to question whether the debate would have gone differently if they were there.

No-one should be surprised if Brookes does appeal — and successfully — against this decision. The council could then be faced with tens of thousands of pounds in its own costs and those of Brookes.

In all the furore over the Brookes planning application, two issues have become entwined.

On the one hand is Brookes’ legitimate and reasonable aim to provide the sort of facilities that its students deserve. The existing campus is a ragbag of buildings desperately in need of modernisation.

On the other hand, is the residents’ clear concern about the ‘studentisation’ of their neighbourhood — particularly the impression that more and more homes in the Headington area are being taken over by student households.

Both these issues need to be addressed and, although related, they are separate. Over recent months the arguments have, however, become confused, and one suspects that city councillors’ reasons for rejecting the new Brookes student centre were just as confused.

Sadly, we now have a bruised Brookes University on collision course with the city council. This is not helpful to anyone, Brookes or the residents.

The student centre application and subsequent applications to develop the Headington campus should be an opportunity to reinforce to Brookes its obligation to house its students in purpose-built accommodation. Ironically, a legal agreement in this vein was proposed by the planning officers as part of the rejected application.