The Oxford Castle Heritage Site is a new social and cultural development in the heart of the West End of Oxford. The 5-acre site is the city's “oldest new quarter” occupying the remains of Oxford Castle and the ancient county gaol and consisted entirely of Grade I, Grade II* and Grade II listed buildings and structures, including the two oldest remaining structures in Oxford - St George's Tower and the Castle Mound. Over the last 10 years, the site has been transformed into a sustainable mixed-use development comprising of an art gallery, hotel, education centre, heritage visitor attraction, residential apartments, and restaurants and bars set around public spaces. The whole site opens up an area of Oxford that had been closed to the public and acted as a forbidding barrier between the centre and the north west of the city for centuries. The development has contributed to many of Oxfordshire County Council's strategic priorities. New jobs, leisure services and homes have been created on what was a redundant and neglected site, and the visitor attraction and education centre underline the importance the Council attaches to the City's rich heritage.

1996: Oxford Prison closes for the last time.

1997: Oxfordshire County Council purchases the freehold of the castle site from the Home Office for £90,500.

1997-2001: Oxfordshire County Council funds the upkeep of the empty prison by renting it out to film and television.

1997-2001: Oxfordshire County Council established the partnership with the private sector, SEEDA, Oxford Preservation Trust, the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage- a key part in bringing the regeneration forward.

1998: Plans put out for public consultation.

2001: Planning permission and grant-funding are put in place; demolition and restoration starts.

September 2005: Last intensive phase of construction commences.

November 2005: First businesses open, including restaurants and the Malmaison Hotel.

May 2006: “Unlocked” the heritage visitor attraction opens its doors to customers.

September 2006: The Oxford Castle Education Centre opens.

1) Strong Council vision

The Council's ambition was to see the site fully regenerated and was steadfast in its long-term vision for its development despite early advice from property consultants who said “there could be no alternative uses for Oxford Castle with any positive value…the site is a liability…”. The overall objectives for the project were:

• To restore and conserve the heritage assets;
• To maximise public access to and through the site;
• For the whole site to be developed managed and recognized as a single entity;
• To encompass sustainable commercial use as well as a full interpretation of the site's history and heritage; and
• To be delivered at minimum risk and cost to council tax payers.

The Council generated around £500,000 from renting out the site when they first took ownership of it to television and film companies. This seed funding, which covered the initial cost of maintaining the site, was critical as it made other funders sit up and take notice that the development could be commercially viable.

2) Effective partnership approach

The pre-condition that the project was to be delivered at minimum cost to council tax payers meant that the venture could only be achieved by working in partnership with the private sector and by securing grant funding.

Due to the historic nature of the buildings and the planning restrictions for the listed buildings, the expected development value of the site fell below the estimate development costs. Given the conservation deficit, public sector financial support was required to make the development viable.

The Trevor Osborne Group was chosen as the Council's development partner given their track record of success with similar heritage asset regeneration schemes. The developer then set up Oxford Castle Ltd who were given a 200-year lease by the Council, subject to various works being undertaken through a Development Agreement. Crucially this included restoration and new build works to the ancient buildings. This signalled the start of a series of successful partnerships on the site.

The Oxford Preservation Trust then obtained a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund with the value of the restoration works being treated as match funding. The result was a partnership between the landowners the Council, the developer Oxford Castle Ltd and the Oxford Preservation Trust. The project also received grant funding from sources including SEEDA, English Heritage and Trust for Oxfordshire's Environment. Part of the site was leased back to the Council who in turn leased it to the Oxford Preservation Trust to run the visitor attraction, Learning Centre, and the public space. The Trust's continued involvement in the project through the management of these aspects also ensured that high quality would be maintained.

Total private sector funding for the project was £34.2m, resulting in a public: private funding ratio of 3.3 to 1. The table below indicates the sources and amounts of funding for the project.

The partnership had to be worked at to make it a success. As the Director of Oxford Preservation Trust stated “to develop a mixed-use scheme on this scale required imagination, determination and cooperation… none of us could do it without the other”. There were a range of obstacles that were faced during construction including delays from public utilities, arson and a main contractor going into liquidation but through having a shared vision, open lines of communications and a team approach, the partnership worked together to drive the project forward. Strong governance and management arrangements were put in place from the start, which were legally binding and allowed for a clear definition of roles and responsibilities. The partners also agreed dispute resolution procedures in advance.

3) Involving the local community

Consultation and community involvement were central to the project's success. Residents and stakeholders were consulted via public meetings, user groups and consultation exercises. Communications took the form of a newsletter for residential and commercial properties in the vicinity of the site, a community notice board on the site entrance and a programme of media releases.

Engaging the community right from the start was crucial. Local interest groups expressed initial concerns about any development being undertaken on the heritage site. A high profile lobby group, “The Castle Action Group”, was formed specifically to oppose development. The council formed a consultative forum ensuring representatives from the Castle Action Group were involved. Through ongoing involvement, the lobby group became a group of key advocates for The Oxford Castle Heritage Site.

In addition to involving residents in the general design of the site, the council and the Oxford Preservation Trust also extensively involved people in shaping the heritage visitor attraction and its accompanying education has advised and supported the development of teachers' resource packs and pilot learning activities. A family panel has been established to advise and evaluate activities for families in the education centre and a lifelong learning programme (open to everybody) explores the history of the castle and prison and its links to the town.

4) Putting sustainability and conservation at the heart of development

For five years, a team of architects, archaeologists, historians, landscape architects and conservation specialists worked together to create the sustainable development plans for the site. These plans demonstrated how sensitive and creative planning could enable the site's historic structures and buildings to maintain as much of their original fabric as possible, whilst brining them into new uses.

Issues of sustainability were also central to construction of the site, for example, through the use of lime mortar and Bath stone (the fabric of the existing structures) to carry out repairs to buildings and to build new structure, the re-use of existing materials in the works and the re-use of redundant granite blocks in the castle site main entrance that the council had previously laid in the city centre. The project also took a sustainable approach to transport. There is limited car parking on site (except a small 20-space underground car part for the hotel), cycling to the site is encouraged with the provision of over 150 cycle parking spaces and public transport links (both park & ride and bus services) are available at the entrance to the site.

5) Ownership and tenancy arrangements

The Council, as the owner of the freehold, has leased the site on a 200 year ground lease to Oxford Castle Limited, a subsidiary to the Osborne Group, who manages Oxford Castle. All the tenants including the hotel and restaurants must sign up to a payment agreement and commit to at least 20 year leases. Securing Malmaison Hotel, the 'anchor tenant', brought confidence and momentum to the project as there was a noticeable increase in the level of interest from other potential tenants once it was on board.

The Funding Agreements for the project specified that the Council could benefit from the commercial success of the project. It was entitled to receive 55% of the development profit, where the profit exceeded 17.5%. But in the event it was determined there was no development profit. The Council is also eligible for payment based on a share of the rental income received by Oxford Castle Limited from the hotel, Malmaison, above a specified base rental level.

All Oxfordshire County Council's objectives for the Oxford Castle Heritage Site have been achieved:

• The heritage assets have been restored and conserved and the public have complete access through the site;
• The site was developed and is managed and recognized as a single entity;
• The site encompasses sustainable commercial use through long-term (minimum 20 year) leases and the visitor attraction provides a full interpretation of the site's history and heritage; and
• The project has been delivered at minimum risk and cost to council tax payers.

The success of the project has been recognised in a range of awards, including the high profile RICS Project of the Year 2007. The development has created over 200 jobs and the commercial premises are well used and operating successfully. Visitor numbers are reaching the target levels. The Malmaison Hotel has been extremely successful, achieving occupancy rates in excess of 80% which compares very favourably with other high quality hotels in Oxford. The project also provides additional benefits in terms of promoting physical linkages between the city centre to the West End and supports further development in the wider West End area by increasing levels of interest in the area. A recent Oxfordshire County Council's Citizens' Panel poll identified that residents believe the development of the Oxford Castle Heritage Site to be one of the most important things to have happened in the county in the last five years.

Informed by the success of the Oxford Castle site, in spring 2009 Armagh City & District Council appointed the Trevor Osborne Property Group and The Prince's Regeneration Trust as a joint venture to similarly redevelop Armagh Gaol into a luxury hotel that would also help to deliver broader regeneration for Armagh City and the wider area. The grade B+ listed gaol, which was built between 1780 and 1860 and has been empty for 20 years, is one of Northern Ireland's most important heritage assets. More than 700 members of the public attended a consultation event at the gaol on 23 June.

The results are being used to develop the planning application, which is expected to be submitted to the Planning Service in early 2010.

• Oxford Castle has demonstrated that by investing time in setting up strong partnerships with a variety of investors, professionals and public and private bodies, there can be creative and successful results and solutions to what many developers may ordinarily see as problematic site constraints.
• Having a strong vision for a site is an essential part of bringing a heritage asset forward for beneficial use. Oxfordshire County Council demonstrated that by having a clear vision for Oxford Castle, the partnership had a clear direction in terms of what the Council was trying to achieve through the regeneration of the castle.
• Oxfordshire County Council used a development agreement to ensure that the regeneration delivered the quality and sensitivity required for the site. This useful legal arrangement uses a local authority's land ownership to ensure that they get what they want from the regeneration and gives them the legal power to ensure that the developer delivers what they commit to deliver under the development agreement.
• It is important that a pro-active approach is taken to secure funding, investigating a variety of funding sources. Oxford Castle secured public funding from four different organisations, as well as investment from the private sector through the partnership.
• Involving the right people is key to ensuring the success of a heritage led regeneration project. If certain stakeholders or professionals are left out of the process then the project may not deliver all of its objectives, or may face delays which could otherwise have been prevented.
• Involving the community is an essential part of any major regeneration project as the community will be, in most cases, the main user of the delivered scheme. Involving the community throughout a project, from conception to delivery, ensures that their needs are met which should be a fundamental part of any regeneration project which is intended for public use. Effective consultation can be a powerful tool to get community groups who object against proposed regeneration plans on side, educating them about the project and working with them to address their concerns.

Source: Oxfordshire County Council