PLANS to turn the car park of the old South Oxfordshire District Council offices into a temporary maintenance compound have been approved.

The planning authority, who put forward the proposal, said the plans to use the space based off Benson Road near Wallingford for two years only “makes use of the site” which has been vacant since 2015.

The former council offices were demolished several years ago after a triple arson attack which saw three buildings engulfed in flames: South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils' headquarters, a funeral parlour next door and a nearby thatched cottage.

READ MORE: Special education school rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted AGAIN

The fires were all started by Andrew Main of nearby Rokemarsh, who was mentally ill.

After the district council relocated to Milton, the site has only been used for car parking since and the planning authority now wants to use the space for five shipping containers to provide storage for grounds maintenance and other council equipment.

A welfare unit will also be included along with space for storage skips and fuel tanks required to fuel ground maintenance vehicles.

As utility services were disconnected from the wider site when the main building was demolished, a new electricity kiosk is proposed to allow reconnection of streetlights along with a secondary security light and CCTV camera.

Containers will be positioned onto the existing surface of the car park and a security fence will be installed around the site.

READ MORE: 'I'm not a traffic warden,' says headteacher as parents cause road havoc

In a design and access statement, the council said: “The proposal aims to provide a temporary compound for the council’s ground maintenance team to provide a suitable short-term base for grounds maintenance activities undertaken on open space across the districts.

“Given that the site is 95 per cent impermeable and consists of parts of an existing car park, the surface is suitable for placing the proposed containers and welfare facilities and there will be no detrimental effect on the environment.”

When approving the change of use, Sharon Crawford, a monitoring officer, said: “The proposed use is for a temporary period of two years.

“It makes use of the site currently vacant of buildings for a use associated with local services to the public with limited visual impact and no impact to highway safety.”

Some residents are concerned about fuel tanks being stored near their homes but Crowmarsh Gifford parish councillors recommended approval of the plans as long as they don’t extend two years.

READ MORE: Council's desperate attempt to save bank used regularly by only 22 people

A spokesperson for the parish council said: “We are keen to see a long-term beneficial use of the old offices site that provides community facilities but don't expect that a temporary use of part of the car park for this short-term purpose will impeded progress on that.”

-

Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland, she joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

A message from our Editor

Thank you for reading this story and supporting the Oxford Mail.

If you like what we do please consider getting a subscription for the Oxford Mail and in return we’ll give you unrestricted access with less adverts across our website from the latest news, investigations, features, and sport.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok for more. 

You can also join the conversation in our Facebook groups: stay ahead of traffic alerts here, keep up to date with the latest from court here, share your favourite memories of Oxford here, get your daily dose of celebrity news here and take some time out with news that will make you smile. 

If you’ve got a story for our reporters, send us your news here. You can also list an event for free here.