This is an editorial opinion piece which was recently published in The Oxford Times, sister paper of the Oxford Mail.

The face of Oxford city centre is changing. 

This week we bring you two stories about plans to demolish large buildings in the heart of the city, with equally large replacements. 

The scheme to demolish Beaver House and 39-42A Hythe Bridge Street had split public opinion before Tuesday's Oxford City Council planning committee.

Opponents bemoaned the building's design and raised fears about traffic in that part of the city during construction.

These were valid points of concern given the delays around the major work on Botley Road, which includes the works at the train station but also new resurfacing work being conducted near Waitrose this week.

Supporters branded Beaver House as an eyesore and praised the hundreds of jobs that the scheme would create. 

Councillors widely supported the plan with Labour's Alex Hollingsworth saying the corner of the existing building looked 'catastrophic'.

It is clear some councillors feel the need for this West End of the city to be given a makeover and this project seems to be another major step forward to achieving this. 

READ MORE: Objections mount against plans to replace historic city centre cinema

CGI of aparthotel (Image: Oxford City Council)

This whole area is part of the West End 'area of change', which is part of the city council local plan and is aiming to create spaces for employment, housing and leisure. 

Expect more schemes like this in the years to come. 

The second, more controversial, plan we reported on this week is for the Odeon building in George Street.

This will also be demolished, but this time replaced with a modern aparthotel. 

Plenty of objections have rolled in for this application due to the history of the building and how prominent it is near Gloucester Green. 

The plan, which was submitted in June, should be decided by the planning committee before the end of the year.

People raised concerns about the plans for the building and argued that it should be used for affordable housing instead. 

Both of these plans are typical of the regenerations happening in many historical cities across the country. Places like Oxford and Winchester are going through the process of revitalised many different parts of the city centre, which have been underused for several years. 

While it's important to bring investment, jobs and people to cities like this, care must be taken on the delivery.

People won't stand for months and months of disruption during the demolition and construction of these buildings. 

While the disruption will be temporary, the benefits to the city will be much longer.