CAMPAIGNERS have launched a final bid to stop a green space in Manzil Way Gardens, East Oxford being turned into a building compound.

Oxford City Council was to allow a fenced compound to be sited there to store a crane and other equipment during construction of a block of student flats in Cowley Road.

But the decision will be re-examined by the council’s scrutiny committee after members opposed to the plan ‘called it in’.

Residents objected to having building equipment on site for up to 24 months.

Around 800 neighbours and users of the nearby mosque had signed a petition against the scheme.

But earlier this month the council’s executive board said there was no alternative.

A report into the issue stated that Oxfordshire County Council highways experts “were firmly of the opinion that access must be from Manzil Way and this requirement drives the size and location of the builder’s compound”.

But city councillor Nuala Young added: “We need to be very clear that although we granted planning permission we are not obliged to sell the land to enable a builders yard.”

Tom Crampton Smith, owner of Crampton Smith Properties, said he understood the concerns but added that the development would bring benefits.