The Other Oxford
Central Oxford is home to some of the most picturesque and impressive architecture in England, and most students take this for granted. They will breeze around the museum-like bubble, surrounded by centuries-old buildings that have housed some of the most important thinkers in history without taking a second glance. In fact, many will complete their degree and leave Oxford with the impression that this is what Oxford is really like - it isn't.
There is more to Oxford than the ornate veins of the High Street and Broad Street. There is more that is in need of repair than the continual "digging-up" of Cornmarket, and there is more to Oxford than punting and port.
Believe it or not, Oxford sprawls beyond what most living-out students see as the deepest frontiers of Cowley Road. In a five-minute bus journey out to East Oxford you can find yourself in a very different world. No longer do the age-old traditions of the University and its "dreaming spires" surround you. Yes, this is reality; this is just as much Oxford as Christ Church Meadow.
East Oxford estates such as Blackbird Leys are an enigma to most students. When writing this article, many people would ask me where it was. This is surely ridiculous, for the Blackbird Leys estate is literally a £1.20 bus fare away. It should be no more alien to us than the existence of anywhere else in Oxford, but then again, it seems that we don't really know Oxford at all.
While the imposing grandeur of central Oxford's colleges and university buildings imply a prosperous and stable city, the reality is very different. Statistics shown in a recent City Council report show that unemployment levels in Oxford are approaching five per cent, which is well above the average level for this part of England. Furthermore, around nine per cent of Oxford's population is made up of ethnic minority communities, which are generally based in the East Oxford estates. Rough sleeping, homelessness, and begging are prominent features on the city's streets - this is more than a "town vs gown" division, this is a segregated community. Although regeneration projects have begun to make inroads into the underfunded estates, further spending is vitally important. Recently there has been some significant regeneration expenditure in the areas funded by Central Government's Single Regeneration Board. However, this funding ends in March of this year and at present there is no indication of any further funding.
The social problems that are prevalent in areas such as Blackbird Leys never normally make it into student newspapers, which is not necessarily surprising. However, when things start happening and people start actively displaying their grievances about problems that the University is, in part involved with, it must surely be seen as newsworthy.
This is where City Councillor Stuart Craft comes in. Craft is a representative of the Independent Working Class Association (IWCA) and is heavily involved in the community developments in Blackbird Leys. He has led outright opposition to the recent European City of Culture bid, claiming that the City Council is more interested in tourism than regeneration: "The last thing Oxford needs is more tourists... we don't have anything against tourists, but tourism is an area which is generally self-funding. Regeneration, however, would be more than welcome...yet the working class estates of East Oxford stood to gain nothing from the Capital of Culture bid."
In Blackbird Leys itself, Craft has played a significant role in fairly radical protests involving the public "eviction" of what he labels a teenage terror gang from Gillian's Park and the picketing of alleged Class-A drug dealers' homes. These actions came as a result of a dramatic increase in the number of muggings, street robberies and violent physical attacks in the area. The visible public support for these protests was substantial; reports of the events were all over local television news. Mothers with prams and the rest of the discontented community crowded the park in protest against the way that this "teenage gang" had been terrorising the local area. Banners calling for "freedom for our kids to walk in safety" were held high. During the following weeks, the "gang" was notably absent.
Craft also describes how, following a survey regarding residents' concerns prior to the 2002 local elections, Class A drug dealing "topped the list." He went on to say: "If the IWCA were to retain any credibility amongst those who we sought to represent then we had to draw up a progressive pro-working class strategy to deal with the problem."
It was as a result of this that the picketing of dealers' houses came about. Craft continued to describe the success of such proactive measures: "The fact that the dealers that we targeted are now gone shows that our strategy works." Yet the students of Oxford hear nothing about any of this. It is as if we are living in a different city altogether. Surely such actions raise important questions. While Craft claims that his "strategies" were within the law it is equally possible to see that picketing an alleged dealer's house disregards the fact that the person has not been proved guilty in a court. By taking the law into their own hands, it must surely be asked whether the IWCA merely using drug dealers as scapegoats for deeper social problems.
Clearly these are questions for everyone in Oxford, not just the residents of Blackbird Leys.
If the social problems are caused by lack of funding for regeneration, they involve the University to a significant extent. As the primary magnet of the tourism, it is not surprising that the University becomes the target for criticism.
When I asked Craft how the University and its students were perceived by the majority of people in the East Oxford estates, he replied in a diplomatic fashion: "The University does at least, I suppose, provide employment of one kind or another, but the general view that I encounter...is that the University and its students are, in the main, overprivileged and out of touch with the reality of working class life."
If this is the case it is not entirely the fault of the students themselves. The real target of criticism should surely be the City Council. The University and its students can do nothing more than show solidarity with the East Oxford estates and put pressure on the Council to redirect spending to areas where it is actually needed.
Central Oxford is naturally a tourist attraction; a drop in the funding of the tourist industry would not make a massive difference as it has the capability to be "self-supportive". The ball is in the council's court with regard to how the problems in estates like Blackbird Leys are addressed.
What we, the students of the University, should be aware of is that beyond the hallowed halls of the college buildings and the dreaming spires there is another side to this city that we are all a part of.
Video clips of the IWCA protests can be found at: http://www.bliwca.fsnet.co.uk/media.htm
26th Feb 2004