'Save this wall'

Rectory Homes has started to take apart the brick wall which surrounds the former Windmill School in Margaret Road, in Headington, Oxford, which it is converting into homes.

Residents whose gardens back on to the site are upset the wall is being demolished because they had been told that Oxford City Council would have to see the plans before any changes were made to the boundary.

They want the old wall to stay as it is, saying it has a lot of character and fits in with the parts of the school building which are being retained in the development.

John Delderfield, of Langley Close, was told by builders taking down the wall that the city council had given the go-ahead.

Mr Delderfield said: "This is the same planning department that told us that nothing had been decided."

Residents were told by officers and councillors that a final decision on the boundaries would have to be agreed by the city council.

But now they have discovered that the developer is not breaking the rules by taking the wall down.

Roger Ramsbottom, of Langley Close, has already lost four feet off his garden wall and is also unhappy that the original railings have been taken away from the front of the school.

He said: "The wall is being demolished because of Oxford planning's lack of forethought about boundaries. The council say they are powerless to do anything."

A council spokesman said the matter was being discussed with the developer, councillors and residents.

She added: "When planning permission was granted for the residential development it was subject to a condition that the boundary treatment be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority.

"However there is no specific requirement that the existing brick wall to the rear of the site should remain intact."

David Ullathorne, land director at Rectory Homes, said the wall would be preserved, but taller sections needed to be taken down so that the boundary was a uniform height.