A SPLASH of colour will soon be added to the wall of an Oxford community centre, with special coating to stop vandalism.

A mural will be painted on the wall of Barton Neighbourhood Centre, after the painting was approved by the city council’s east area planning committee.

The mural will depict doctors, sports and library books: some of the services which are run out of the council-owned building.

It would be splashed onto the west side of the community hub.

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Councillor Nigel Chapman asked if the painting would be done on a board and then mounted to the wall.

Craig Morbey, who works at the centre, said it would be painted straight onto the wall.

Mr Morbey, who had held discussions with the artist behind the planned mural, said: "It would look better for a longer period of time if it were on the wall."

Oxford Mail:

The wall where the mural will be painted. Picture: Oxford City Council.

Labour councillor for Lye Valley Ben Lloyd-Shogbesan asked if any steps could be taken to stop the mural from being vandalised.

"It would be fantastic to have... I am looking at that fantastic artwork and thinking someone might make a mess of it. Just thinking ahead: in terms of putting something so beautiful there, what is the programme for keeping it that beautiful?"

Mr Lloyd-Shogbesan was told this was not a planning matter, but council staff told him there was a special kind of anti-graffiti paint which could be applied to the mural to protect it.

This paint would make it easier for council workers to clean off any unwanted additions.

Councillors on the committee were also worried the application to paint the mural was being billed as 'temporary'.

Colin Cook asked what would happen to the mural once its five-year permission ran out.

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A council staff member told him it would stay there, as murals or advertisements were only removed or pulled down if the council specifically told the building's owner they should be removed.

Prince Harry officially reopened Barton Neighbourhood Centre when he visited Oxford in May last year after the building underwent a £1 million refurbishment by the city council.

For more information about the mural application, visit Oxford City Council's website and search planning reference 19/02745/CT3.