Oxford City Council has finally given the go ahead for a £500m life sciences district on the edge of the city.

Ten years after it was first mooted, the Oxford North development, which is the brainchild of St John’s College’s development company Thomas White Oxford (TWO), will incorporate new laboratories and workspaces for biomedical science, new homes, public parks and neighbourhood shops.

Yesterday additional infrastructure measures were agreed with planners and the legal agreements have concluded with the City Council as the planning authority and Oxfordshire County Council as the highways authority. The green-field site was first designated as a science park by the local authority six years ago.

Professor Andrew Parker, St John’s College, last night said: “The news today that Oxford North has the green light is the culmination of many years of working collaboratively with Oxford City Council, and Oxfordshire County Council for highways, whose vision has been for the area to become home to a science and technology community, with much-needed new homes and vital infrastructure improvements.

“The College is heavily committed to creating a place, not just to facilitate life-enhancing science and technology discoveries, but a new district of Oxford where people want to live, visit and learn.

“Oxford North will connect and enhance the local area physically through open spaces, public art and culture, and immersive experiences. It will be a place for tomorrow’s workforce improving people’s lives, air quality and the environment while delivering a significant boost to the economy. We are proud to be investing in such a project for Oxford.”

The planning approval is for an outline consent for the overall 64-acre masterplan to provide 4,500 new jobs across circa 936,500 sqft of laboratories and offices and 480 new homes, of which a minimum of 35% will be affordable. It also includes small shops, bars and restaurants, a hotel, 23 acres of open spaces ­- including three new parks – and significant investment into the walking, cycling, bus and highway networks.

Two of the giant laboratories which are due to be built in the first phase

A detailed consent has been granted for the first phase of development in the Central area, which will provide 140,000 sqft of laboratories and office space in three buildings along with the first phase of a new public park.

William Donger, director, Thomas White Oxford added: “This is a significant day for Oxford’s future after many years of discussions to unlock a bold vision to transform the area to build a global innovation district for the city.

“We are committed to investing in a place that will enhance people’s quality of life, help to retain and attract Oxford’s remarkable talent and deliver positive socio-economic impacts.”

TWO are committing £30m to infrastructure works, which have already started with the A40 being widened between Wolvercote roundabout and Duke’s Cut. As part of the proposal, that section of the road will be transformed into a tree-lined street with new bus stops, extended bus and cycle lanes, wider footpaths and safer crossing points, complementing Oxfordshire County’s wider strategy to deliver an outer ring of Park and Ride sites and express busways to the City.

Since its submission in 2018, the Oxford North’s Planning Application has been subject to public consultation led by the City Council and the technical reports reviewed by the relevant statutory consultees. This culminated in Oxford City Council’s Planning Review Committee held on 19 December 2019 at which members reviewed the details of the planning application and ultimately resolved to approve TWO’s application.

Since then, TWO has been in legal discussions to finalise the Section 106 Agreement, which is the mechanism used to ensure that TWO’s proposals are properly integrated into local community and infrastructure needs addressed. In addition, the scheme will pay the Community Infrastructure Levy, a proportion of which Oxford City Council collects and ring-fences for infrastructure projects identified by the local community.