THE estimated £230m that a new Westgate shopping centre could bring into the city is an eye-wateringly impressive sum.

And while it should hopefully excite traders in the city about the ‘trickle down’ benefit to them, it also shows starkly just what Oxford has been losing out on for decades.

Oxford City Council officers have given their support to the planning application for a revamped Westgate Centre and are suggesting it would attract £230m to Oxford, based on estimates of what is currently being spent in neighbouring retail centres such as Reading and Milton Keynes.

The history of replacing the current Westgate has been long and tortured. The council officers have said it is currently “down at heel offering only a limited and poor retail experience” as they admit that other towns and cities have eclipsed Oxford as a shopping destination.

That is putting it mildly.

Look specifically at the case of Reading. The Berkshire town has boomed as an economic power-house over the past 20 years and its Oracle shopping centre opened in 1999.

As a town it does not have the cache of Oxford, but it ruthlessly seized its opportunity to grow and for almost 15 years now its economy has benefited by drawing in shoppers from across the region.

We most certainly welcome a new Westgate and hope the £230m figure is correct, but we should all rue the opportunities missed over the past 25 years.