Botley Centre redevelopment – summary of works.

The following is a guide to the main changes you will see during the first 18 months or so of the redevelopment works up to the end of 2018 if Mace’s proposed new phasing go ahead as planned. This information was obtained at Mace’s Community Liaison Group meeting held on April 10th. Mace mentioned a public exhibition to be held during the time the change of use application is open for consultation which is expected to be during May.

Details of the revised phasing plans and the consultation process between Mace and local community representatives can be found at

NOTE: Elms Parade shops are not included in the redevelopment and will continue to remain trading as normal, plus their car parking spaces will remain available for shoppers using those shops.

  1. Preparation phase up to July 2017.

A new temporary location for some facilities will be established on the north-east corner (around the junction of West Way and Westminster Way) containing the two office blocks (Elms Court and the Grant Thornton building), their surrounding car park space, and the four retail units opposite (currently containing David Tompkins, Sue Ryder and Bet Fred, plus an empty unit).

All of the community facilities and shops that are remaining open will be transferred to the temporary section of the site around the end of June, following which the remainder of the site (Seacourt Hall, the Baptist Church, and the rest of the shopping precinct across to the car park behind SS Peter and Paul Church) will be cordoned off for the works proper to start. The known temporary locations of these organisations will be as follows.

Community facilities:

  • Botley Library to remain in the current location.
  • Botley Baptist Church to transfer to the 1st floor of the Grant Thornton building.
  • Seacourt Hall to transfer to the 2nd floor of the Grant Thornton building.

Shops:

  • Co-op to transfer to a unit being built on the ground floor of the Grant Thornton building (currently car parking spaces).
  • Tesco to transfer to the two units next to the Library on the ground floor of Elms Court.
  • Lloyds Chemists to transfer to a separate temporary unit being built on site.

Currently only the above organisations have been confirmed as definitely remaining open during construction. Questions were raised at the meeting about a café as an important facility for residents and Mace mentioned the possibility of working with Branches Youth café but no details have been finalised yet.

  1. Phase 1 of the redevelopment works up to the end of 2018.

Access and car parking (non-works vehicles):

Church Way beyond Elms Parade will be closed for vehicular access, but will remain open as a covered walkway throughout the works for direct pedestrian access from Arthray Road to West Way.

A new opening will be made linking Chapel Way to West Way at the eastern (A34) end of Elms Parade car park for vehicular access. Chapel Way itself will remain open up to the current access point for the Grant Thornton car park (but closed beyond that) during the early stages of works to allow vehicular access to the temporary section of the site with shops and community facilities, and a total of 43 car park spaces will be available in that area. Enforcement of short term free parking for shoppers and users of community facilities only will be managed closely.

Pedestrian access to the temporary section of the site will be via Chapel Way and a new pedestrian access point near to the junction of West Way and Westminster Way.

Access and car parking (works traffic and construction workers):

During Phase 1 all works traffic will enter the site from West Way via Church Way and continue into the cordoned off section of the site, subsequently exiting via the cordoned off section of Chapel Way onto Westminster Way and back to West Way.

Construction workers will park their own vehicles at the Seacourt Park & Ride in a section allocated to them, and then be bussed into the site. There will be no parking of their own cars allowed on site or in surrounding roads.

Main works to be completed during the first part of Phase 1:

  • For several months from the start of works ] there will be a period of asbestos removal followed by demolition of the current shopping precinct, Seacourt Hall and Baptist Church.
  • Works will then begin on the main new car park to be completed around May 2018.
  • Works on the main new retail units to house Co-op and Tesco, plus the new community building will commence during the last quarter of 2017 for completion during the second half of 2018.
  • By the end of 2018 Botley Library, Seacourt Hall and the Baptist Church will all have moved into the newly opened community building and the Co-op and Tesco will be trading from their new locations. The main new car park plus the additional spaces around the community building will all be in use. The temporary section of the site will become available for demolition and rebuilding to commence there.
  • Most of the accommodation will be completed by the end of 2019 with all building scheduled to complete by the first quarter of 2020.