A JAR of honey a year has secured an ecological parkland site near the city centre, after an historic deal between a community group and an Oxford college.

Corpus Christi College’s sports ground at Grandpont is to be transformed into what promises to be a groundbreaking community facility with an orchard, community beehives and a wind turbine.

And the college has agreed to lease out the land off the Abingdon Road from the summer for an annual rent of one jar of honey.

The college will announce its partnership today with West Oxford Community Renewables, which last year was awarded £800,000 by the Department of Energy to fund green community projects.

But local cricketers said they regretted the loss of another cricket pitch in Oxford, with fears that other college cricket grounds could follow.

A university report suggests “huge savings” could be made from cutting the number of college sports grounds from 17 to just five or six.

The community group said the new ecology centre near the River Thames would be “a centre of excellence”, providing space for tree planting, local food production and a wind turbine. The old Corpus cricket pavilion will be turned into a training centre to help other local community groups set up low carbon schemes.

Lois Muddiman, director of West Oxford Community Renewables, said: “This is a very generous offer. The ecology centre will be a place of inspiration and education.”

The site is only accessible by foot using a pedestrian bridge over the railway line from Whitehouse Road.

The land will be leased to the group initially for ten years, with the hope that it might be extended.

West Oxford Community Renewables and its sister organisation, Low Carbon West Oxford, were set up by local residents.

Ben Ruck Keene, Corpus Christi bursar, said: “The whole college is very excited by the prospect of working with Low Carbon West Oxford to bring about a direct reduction in carbon emissions in the city.”

He said Corpus would be sharing University College’s cricket ground, off the Abingdon Road.

The jar of honey rental will be highly symbolic, with the bee one of the college’s historic emblems.

Trevor Williams, captain of the Wayfarers Cricket Club, said: “We have played at the Corpus pitch for 35 years. It is a lovely ground.”

Andy Mosson, who led the recent unsuccessful bid to save the cricket pitch at Warneford Hospital, said: “It seems some colleges are seeking to divest themselves of cricket pitches. It is a pity because the grounds are really part of the fabric of Oxford.”

A recent Oxford University review of sports facilities said the cost to colleges of providing pitches for cricket, rugby and football worked out about £900 a game.

It adds: “There is a huge potential for cost savings by colleges if the provision of pitches is rationalised. This might include setting up centres devoted to specific sports, for example rugby and cricket being provided at five to six venues instead of 17.

“We recognise there may be planning constraints on the alternative use of the colleges’ sports facilities, but our discussions with the city council indicated that they would take a constructive approach within the constraints imposed on them.”

Tim Knowles, bursar of Lincoln College, admitted his college had held “vague” discussions with Jesus and Oriel, who all have pitches at Bartlemas Close in East Oxford, about the prospects of finding alternative sports sites to free up land for development.

But he said that the idea was only viewed as a long-term possibility at the moment.