COMMUNITY groups in Botley have said a graffiti art project to improve the look of the dilapidated West Way centre is 'too little too late'.

Members of the Association of Botley Communities and the West Way Community Concern group say developers should have worked to keep the soon-to-be-demolished shopping arcade looking 'pleasant' for shoppers as soon as businesses started to leave the centre.

Many units have stood empty for more than a year now after developers Mace changed the timing of the redevelopment in April 2017.

However subsequent delays, mainly caused by issues over land ownership, mean that work to prepare the site for the bulldozers only got underway last month.

Over recent weeks the walls and boarded-up units at West Way have also been subject to an anonymous graffiti artist who has scrawled attacks against developers and the district council over the handling of the site's regeneration.

In an effort to enhance the centre's aesthetics, and also deter the anonymous vandal, site owners, Botley Development Company, last weekend employed the help of professional graffiti artists as well as using artwork by local school children to brighten up the centre.

Responding to the transformation, chair of West Way Community Concern Dr Mary Gill said: "You could say it's too little too late.

"I don't think anyone disagrees that it looks better than boarded up shops but it should have been done a long time ago.

"I think they needed to keep the shops in the centre a lot longer than they did and when they did leave they should’ve been far quicker in doing something to keep the place pleasant for the community.

"After all it's their shopping centre, they're the ones that use it."

Chair of the Association of Botley Communities Chris Church agreed, saying: “We suggested something like this an age ago.

"I’m sure some people won’t like it but I think it’s an improvement.

"It’s a lot better than blank boarded up units.

"However, it’s very unfortunate that we got in this situation in the first place.

"The delays in land ownership and the redesign in the planning process should never have been allowed to build up in this way and the district council and Mace should have got their act together a lot sooner."

Vale of White Horse District Council completed the sale of land to developers for £12.4million in January.

The redevelopment will see the site transformed into a mixed retail and residential space, to include 149 homes, a 122-bedroom hotel and 262 student flats.

In a few month’s time the whole of the centre will be fenced off and they will be demolished.

There will be a long fence all the way around the 1960s site for a long time.

The large panels like Waitrose by local schools were an example of how you can make hoardings much more attractive.

I think the more the community can be involved in this the better. To remind us we are finally getting new buildings behind the fence.

But equally the professional artists add something too.

I’m not at all surprise that people are frustrated, obviously we do not condone random acts of vandalism but it has highlighted the need for something better.

That was a great tribute to the chippy that will be very sorely missed by an awful lot of people.

It’s better to registered their protest than do nothing.

This are buildings that are due to be demolished. If someone was scrawling graffiti across Christ Church then that would be a different matter.

Chair of West Way Community Concern Dr Mary Gill said: "You could say it's too little too late.

"I don't think anyone disagrees that it looks better than boarded up shops but it should have been done a long time ago.

"I think they needed to keep the shops in the centre a lot longer than they did and when they did leave they should've been far quicker in doing something to keep the place pleasant for the community.

"After all it's their shopping centre, they're the ones that use it."