OXFORD’S Rose Hill estate is becoming “claustrophobic and over-developed” and is missing out on new facilities, a community leader has claimed.

Peter Wilkinson, chairman of the Rose Hill Tenants and Residents’ Association, said part of the problem was that Oxford City Council was not enforcing planning conditions properly.

However, one of the area’s city councillors has defended the authority’s record.

Contractors are building 38 affordable homes in Lambourne Road as part of a £5.8m redevelopment programme.

Mr Wilkinson said: “New homes are springing up all over Rose Hill, some to buy and some to rent, including welcome local authority social housing.

“Modern new homes are of course welcomed, but at what cost?

“Rose Hill is being turned into a dormitory estate. We’re losing green spaces and what was once a traditional estate of two-storey, mainly semi-detached houses in fairly spacious gardens is being turned into a somewhat claustrophobic estate of high wooden fences and an overdevelopment of houses crammed into every space, including some three-storey houses and flats.”

Mr Wilkinson, the husband of Headington’s Liberal Democrat councillor Ruth Wilkinson, also said he also believed the estate was missing out on new facilities.

He said: “Normal planning requirements – no overlooking, building lines, non-overdevelopment, adequate parking provision — are being compromised and enforcement of conditions is not taking place.

“It seems that anything goes as far as Rose Hill is concerned.

“The city council calls this regeneration.

“It’s not regeneration, regeneration means much more than simply building houses – it means providing facilities and amenities for the residents, alongside extra housing. These are notably absent in Rose Hill.

“All these new houses will bring much new income to the city through the council tax but our money is being diverted elsewhere.”

The Lambourne Road development will include 16 three-bedroom and two five-bedroom homes, as well as flats and bungalows.

Work started in February and will take about 12 months to complete, with the homes ready by March next year.

Rose Hill Labour councillor Antonia Bance rejected Mr Wilkinson’s claims and said more than £450,000 had been placed in a trust for the people of Rose Hill through a section 106 development gain agreement as part of the building programme.

She added: “In the past few years it has been a real priority to do up the absolutely sub-standard housing in Rose Hill.

“For anyone to suggest this wasn’t important is not a good idea.

“It’s absolutely delightful to see so much new housing. It’s a great project, which has transformed the look and feel of the estate.

“This money is waiting in a trust and any decisions on how it is spent will be made with the local community.”