A FORMER children’s play area in Cowley Marsh Park could be given over to a council depot needing more room for equipment after an increase in recycling and waste collections.

Oxford City Council’s Direct Services wants to fence off and “temporarily adopt” an area of the park to create 2400 sq m of extra storage space for its Marsh Road depot.

But people in the area have voiced concerns about losing green space near their homes.

Old Temple Cowley Residents’ Association’s planning representative Judith Harley said the group delivered about 800 leaflets to homes in the area about the council’s plans.

Ms Harley, of Temple Street, said: “I’m just horrified. We need more recreation space, not less. This is a very peaceful part of the park. It should be kept like that for everyone to enjoy.”

In its design statement, Oxford City Council said it wants to expand into an “under-utilised area” of the park, which is “not now used by local residents for recreation”.

The area, which is sandwiched between the council’s depot yard and the park’s tennis courts, used to house a children’s playground until it was moved to another part of the park.

The council said the depot is the “organisational hub” for recycling and refuse, Streetscene, highways and engineering, motor transport and is the central fuelling point for all city council vehicles.

It added the depot was “under pressure for space” after the introduction of food waste collections to flats, increased green recycling, brown bin service, the rise in the number of homes in the city and the “rising public expectations” of its recycling service.

The council said extra space is also needed so it can follow government guidelines to be “emergency response ready”, with storage required to hold more salt than currently needed for bad winter weather, as well as flood defence equipment.

Expanding the depot into the park would allow the council to store additional wheeled bins for garden waste recycling, food waste recycling and general dry recycling, as well as emergency response equipment.

It said it would also install a “low maintenance artificial cricket pitch” for residents if planning permission was granted and use three-metre high panels to fence off the new storage area.

The council said it would review the “temporary adoption” within five years, returning the area to its “original use” if it left the Marsh Road site.

Ms Harley said it was “totally untrue” the area was under-used and added: “They are not going to spend lots of money to take it out in five years’ time. Although they say it’s temporary, we don’t believe that. It sets a very bad precedent.”

Ms Harley said residents were also concerned about the plans after the closure of Temple Cowley Pools last December and the redevelopment of the former Cowley community centre, in Barns Road.

She said: “This whole area is being stripped of the public services and public facilities that many people enjoy.”

Crescent Road resident Gideon Tearle said it was “unacceptable” the council is trying to expand into the park.

The 45-year-old added: “We all love the park. It’s a real key facility that defines the area.”

Gordon Woods, of Reliance Way, said: “This is a completely inappropriate incursion into public space. The population of Cowley Marsh ward has grown significantly over recent years, and the limited green space is used by more and more people. Reducing it further by building a bin store is unacceptable.”

City council spokesman Chofamba Sithole did not respond to requests for comment.

More than 50 people have commented on the plans on Oxford City Council’s website. July 29 is the deadline for comments on the application, ref 15/01661/CT3.