Grenoble Road – plans to sell around 80 acres to be decided

Senior councillors at Oxford City Council, the freeholder owner of land at Grenoble Road in south Oxford, have already been recommended to approve the sale.

Emma Gubbins, corporate asset lead at Oxford City Council, said in a report ahead of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, April 15 that the “disposal” of the land could generate “significant” money for the authority.

This is despite it being just a “small part” of the city council’s total land portfolio, the report added.

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Ms Gubbins said: “The council intends to dispose of the land by way of option agreement and ultimately freehold transfer.”

Essentially, this means a contract giving the developer the right to buy in future (option agreement). Then, if that right is used, a permanent sale of the land itself (freehold transfer).

Ms Gubbins added that the terms of the deal are confidential and subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

As such, details of how much the land is valued at and how much the council could make from a potential sale are not known publicly.

Oxford City Council said it could not say what the land subject to a potential sale is to be used for.

The officer’s report added that a sale could achieve benefits via development and added: “It is considered that on balance the disposal should proceed in order to achieve the significant positives for the council, future council and local areas.”