Peking University HSBC Business School’s proposal to redevelop Foxcombe Hall at Boars Hill, outside Oxford, has been rejected by the local planning authority.
The business school acquired the site from the Open University in 2017 and subsequently sought permission for substantial campus expansion.
Its plans included a lecture theatre with capacity for 200 people, 60 bedrooms for students, a library, a gym and dining facilities.
Vale of White Horse District Council originally approved the scheme in 2022.
The approval remained subject to uncertainty in December 2024 because the development could potentially be examined by central government amid concerns about national security.
Progress was subsequently delayed while the council and the applicant prepared a Section 106 legal agreement.
When the matter returned for renewed consideration, a planning officer said the elapsed time required an assessment of whether circumstances or policy had changed since the earlier resolution.
Officers concluded that the scheme’s disadvantages were greater than its advantages and advised the planning committee to reject the application.
Sunningwell parish councillors opposed the proposal, citing its reliance on private cars, limited access to local services and concerns about the development’s scale and density.
Representatives of the Friends of Boars Hill also opposed the scheme because of the loss of Green Belt land and transport-related concerns, while maintaining that the site was unsuitable for such a development.
The campaign group had previously raised national-security objections connected with the proximity of Foxcombe Hall to research facilities, including Oxford University and the Harwell cybersecurity centre.
David Lander, deputy director at the Peking University HSBC Business School UK Campus, said the institution remained dedicated to the project despite its lengthy planning history and a holding objection from the Secretary of State that concluded in 2024.
According to him, the university first learned of the latest objections from the council’s report earlier that month.
This left insufficient time to consider the updated evidence before the meeting, although fresh environmental surveys could be undertaken shortly.
The university’s planning representative attributed the earlier delay in completing the legal agreement to difficulties finding representation capable of covering matters in both the UK and China.
Those difficulties had since been resolved.
Ward councillors Emily Smith and Ben Potter backed local residents’ objections and the planning officers’ recommendation.
Smith said the location was unsustainable, had poor access to services and was not suitable for students.
She also noted that alternative accommodation already being discussed was in use.
The planning committee subsequently voted unanimously against granting permission.