Westgate Shopping Centre Oxford

Assignment Task
This is an individual piece of work. You are required to read the Case Study Westgate Shopping Centre. The questions can be answered using only this one source as your base material. Howev-er, you are welcome to use wider material that is publicly available from reputed and credible sources, you need to cite those sources when you consult such material in your answers.
Answer the following questions:
1. Discuss the iron triangle for this project. Identify, and provide justification for, the one or more iron triangle elements you think should take priority (25% of marks)
2. Based on the information provided in the case, carry out a stakeholder assessment for this project. Identify three stakeholders who you believe are the most important to Westgate Al-liance. Explain why you think they are the most important, and provide recommendations as to how they should be managed (50% of marks)
3. Evaluate the types of risks that may be applicable to this project. Use examples to illustrate your discussion. Suggest the possible impacts of these risks (25% of marks).

Learning Outcomes assessed:
1. Understand the principles and theoretical foundations of project management.
2. Develop personal skills of research, analysis, and evaluation of work in the project
environment.
3. Plan, schedule and control a business project, to set up a project structure, manage stake-holders, risk and time.
4. Understand how to deliver a project on time, to cost budget and to the required quality le-vels.
5. Understand the interaction of systems and people in decision-making.

Assignment length:
The length of an assignment is limited to contribute towards the development of writing skills and to ensure all work is assessed equitably. We therefore require you to complete your assignment within a word limit of 1500 words.
You will need to think carefully about how best to explain your case within the permitted number of words using, for example, an appropriate mix of text, drawings, diagrams and tables, supplemented if required by information contained in appendices.
Please also remember that a report can be enhanced or damaged through layout. For example, placing all tables and drawings in appendices can hamper the flow of the discussion. Decisions therefore need to be made about the most appropriate place to use tables etc, to support your case.
The specified word count refers to the main body of the report and does not include front cover, title page, contents page, tables, reference list, bibliography or appendices. The word count does include headings and in-text citations, but not equations or diagrams.
Appendices themselves will not be marked. However, inappropriate use of appendices will be taken into consideration when awarding the final mark.
Words that exceed the maximum allowed will not be marked. If in doubt, you should discuss this with the Module Leader before submission.
Guidance Notes:
Reinforce your discussion using references to appropriate theory and practice
Use frameworks and/or theories from the module to support your arguments
The reference list should contain a variety of relevant sources, you should ensure
you are referring to sufficient Project Management material as well as that relating to West-gate Shopping Centre

Assessment Criteria
Marks will be earned for the following criteria. Equal weighting is applied to each of these criteria.
Reference to and use of frameworks and tools from the course and wider reading, some-times beyond the reading list.
Good application of the tools to the case, especially those relating to: the iron triangle, stakeholder management, risk assessment.
Good decision-making and problem analysis.
Clear presentation and appropriate referencing.

Presenting Coursework for Assessment

You are required to clearly provide 3 separate answers to the 3 questions. You do not need to provide an introduction or a conclusion. Your answers should be well structured with appropriate paragraphs. Include in-text citations in Harvard format.
Assignments must be presented in the following format:
Assignments must be word-processed in 11 font Arial, all pages must be numbered
Margins must be as follows: Top: 1 inch, Bottom: 1 inch (2.5 cm), Left: 1.25 inches, Right: 1.25 inches (3.2 cm).

—> Please use the sources from the list in the Case Study.
Westgate Shopping Centre Development
Westgate Shopping Centre opened in Oxford in 1973, it was subsequently extended and
refurbished in 1986. Discussions began in the early 2000s on redeveloping the area,
however it was not until 2014 that a plan was finally approved.
On 12 March 2014, the BBC news reported that Oxford City Council had provided outline
planning permission for a ‘£500m long-standing plan to rebuild Oxford’s West End’.
The new development was to be based on the previous Westgate site and adjacent land,
with John Lewis as its anchor department store. As well as shops, restaurants and cafés, a
cinema is planned set in a mix of covered streets, arcades, lanes and squares. The new
development will also include a number of new homes and a two-storey basement car park
providing between 900 and 1,100 spaces.
Westgate Alliance
The site lease is owned by a company called Westgate Alliance, a joint venture between
Land Securities and Crown Estate formed in 2010. After it was formed, the joint venture
spent four years preparing the development plans and undertaking consultation. As
leasehold owners of the Westgate Centre, Westgate Oxford Alliance has signed a
Development Agreement with Oxford City Council, who will remain as owners of the
freehold to the new development.
Westgate Alliance stated it aimed to create a ‘world-class retail and leisure destination’.
Interested parties
Although there were many who considered that approval of the outline plan was a great
step forward, there were also plenty of objections to the proposed development. For
example, the Oxford Civic Society had raised concerns about traffic congestion, whilst the
Oxford Architectural and Historical Society were concerned that the new development
should not impact the views of the ‘City of Dreaming Spires’.
But, as well as opponents, the proposal had many supporters. The BBC news report stated
that 71% of the responses to the public consultation about the development were in
support of the plans. Not only did people see the need for a better shopping experience in
Oxford, there was also the likelihood of the development creating jobs in the city – figures
of 3400 new jobs and 600 jobs a year during construction were being quoted.
John Lewis was also pleased the project was going ahead. Jeremy Collins, property director
at John Lewis, said: “This is very exciting news. We have long held an ambition to open a
John Lewis department store in Oxford and we are delighted that a significant milestone has
now been achieved”
Westgate Alliance provides a website containing a wealth of information about the site and
the proposed development, where those who are interested can learn a lot more about the
plans and how they are progressing. The website includes a webcam that allows people to
view the progress of the construction work live at any time of their choosing. The website
also highlights many benefits of the development. In addition to the more obvious benefits
(better shopping, more jobs) there are also several that are less obvious that are identified.
For example, the Alliance is making a £4.3m contribution to the city’s transport
infrastructure, and is offering a skills training scheme to maximise the job opportunities
available to local people.
What happened next?
Following the outline planning approval, Westgate Alliance stated that the detailed designs
for the development were being progressed, working with four architectural practices: Allies
& Morrison, Dixon Jones Architects, Glen Howells Architects and Panter Hudspith. The
process was overseen by Westgate masterplanners BDP.
Comprehensive consultation took place during the detailed design process. In April 2014
Westgate Oxford Alliance held a five day exhibition to show the emerging detailed designs
for the proposed redevelopment of the Westgate Centre and adjacent land. They
subsequently exhibited revised detailed designs, that had been updated based on input
from the consultation process, before submitting the next planning application.
The detailed planning application was submitted late 2014, and was approved by Oxford
City Council on 25th November 2014.
In March 2015, Laing O’Rourke was appointed as the principal contractor for the
development with work due to start on the site in Spring 2015. They stated that around
1000 construction workers would be working on the ‘highly anticipated development’.
Their 30-month contract covers the construction of the shell and core of the three-storey
retail centre, together with the car park and 61 new residential properties
Preparatory work began in Feb 2015, and the new shopping and leisure destination is
planned to be complete in Autumn 2017.
In January 2016 the retail outlets based within the current Westgate centre had to close, as
the site was to be demolished. Primark initially struggled to find an alternative location for
the duration of the construction period, raising concerns over job losses for 193 staff.
However they are currently trading out of a location in Queen Street. A spokesperson for
Sainsbury’s said they had managed to work with developers to keep their store open
though-out the renovations.
During the development
Oxford Archaeology South carried out some excavation work during the construction of the
new shopping centre. Their work, recognised by the British Archaeological Awards as ‘Best
Archaeological Project 2016’, saw up to 50 dedicated archaeologists working on site in often
challenging conditions to reveal the extensive remains of the medieval Greyfriars friary (AD
1244-1538). The excavations, which began in January 2015, uncovered the stone
foundations of the friary precinct, including parts of the precinct wall, cloister, dormitories,
reredorter, kitchens, buttery, servery, and a refectory.
Needless to say it has not all been plain sailing during the construction work. A report in
November 2015 highlighted that trucks bringing in fast-setting concrete from outside Oxford
had been stuck in traffic congestion around Oxford for so long that the concrete was not
usable. ‘Over two weeks alone, 40-minute traffic delays on part of the route hit deliveries
causing around £22,000 worth of concrete to be condemned’. A request was made to allow
the trucks to be re-routed off the main road and through local villages. It looks like this
request was approved by planners on grounds of sustainability.
Current situation – Jan 2017
At 13 January 2017, the Westgate website stated that 35 brands had confirmed they would
be coming to Westgate. The centre is planned to open in October 2017.
6/2/17
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-26531634

History


http://www.shopping-centre.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/7072/Westgate_wins_planning.html
http://www.laingorourke.com/media/news-releases/2015/westgate-oxford-alliance-2.aspx
http://oxfordarchaeology.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=651&Itemid=547
http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2015/11/27/440m-westgate-job-hit-as-concrete-sets-indelayed-trucks/

Oxford: John Lewis celebrates £500m Westgate approval

Shops to shut for Westgate demolition


http://www.jackfm.co.uk/oxfordshire/news/oxfordshire-news/new-oxford-westgate-designssubmitted/