A HUT used for Oxford's cadets to meet will no longer be replaced by a council-owned housing developer which wants to build flats where it stands.

Plans for a three-storey building containing 26 flats on a car park next to Elsfield Hall were approved by Oxford City Council in June last year.

As part of the conditions for building the homes at the site in Cutteslowe, Oxford City Housing was told it had to replace a cadet hut which faced demolition, so the group could still meet.

ALSO READ: MEP crowdfunds for ‘love EU’ banner on White Cliffs of Dover

Since the plans were given the go-ahead, the local cadet group has been suspended and no longer needs a meeting place.

thisisoxfordshire:

The cadet meeting hut. Picture: Oxford City Council.

At the council's west area planning committee on Tuesday, councillors agreed Oxford City Housing would no longer have to replace the pre-fabricated hut.

The cadet hut was set to be replaced by another building on the north east of the Elsfield Hall site which used to be a gym.

But Green councillor Dick Wolff was concerned that getting rid of the cadet hut and not replacing it was part of a wider picture where community-use buildings were being lost across the city.

Mr Wolff said: "This is quite a small application but it is quite an important principle at stake: what do we do with community buildings?

"There are a lot of pressures on such buildings."

He added: "Just because the cadets no longer have need of this site, doesn't mean no-one else needs it."

thisisoxfordshire:

The proposed new meeting hut. Picture: Oxford City Council.

But other councillors did not agree with him.

ALSO READ: Peter Knight sentenced for lying to get Oxford hospital trust job

Elsfield Hall is occupied by several fitness related businesses.

Oxford City Housing Ltd is a private company, but is wholly owned by the city council, with the aim of building more genuinely affordable homes.

The company's plans for the informal car park will see 26 flats in an L-shaped three-storey block built on the site.

thisisoxfordshire:

An early design drawing of the new flats.

Taken together with joint development at Cumberlege Close in Marston, a total of 35 flats will be built by Oxford City Housing, with 18 of those planned affordable homes.

The two developments have been funded by money from the £215m Oxfordshire Housing and Growth Deal.

See planning reference 19/02841/VAR at Oxford City Council's website for more information.