Work to resume at site of fatal flats explosion

Ten years after an explosion which killed one man and destroyed three flats, work to build new homes on the site will resume next year.

Guido Schuette, 46, died in the explosion on Gibbs Crescent in Oxford in 2017 which an inquest concluded was likely have been an accident.

All 86 flats in the complex were ultimately demolished, but work to build new homes on the site stopped in 2023 when the construction company went into administration.

Developer A2Dominion said it expected to restart the development of 140 affordable homes in early 2027.

An inquest into the cause of the explosion on 14 February 2017 heard Schuette bought 60 litres of fuel in the four weeks prior to his death.

He was heard making threats to blow up the flats in a row over noise, but it was thought that a petrol vapour cloud may have accidentally ignited.

Oxfordshire Safeguarding Adults Board later said the explosion was "not predictable or preventable", and that neither police nor mental health services could have stopped Mr Schuette, even if it was intentional.

In a narrative verdict Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter said he could not rule out the chance it was caused deliberately, but considered it "less likely".

Three flats were destroyed in the explosion and 40 had to be abandoned.

A2Dominion then recieved planning permission to demolish the remaing homes and build a six-storey development on the site.

Work on the 140 new flats stopped in 2023, when the building firm, Henry Construction went into administration.

In a statement, A2Dominion's managing director of development and regeneration, Chris Ives said: "We are working with construction company Higgins Group to finalise a build price and programme, and expect to be in a position to restart the development of 140 affordable homes in early 2027".

Les Wright, who runs Osney Marina which neighbours Gibbs Crescent said he had been kept up-to-date by the developer.

"I'm very pleased that something's finally happening".

"It should have been completed by now... but the sooner the better for us, because our access is difficult at the best of times and we'd like something to definitely happen fairly quickly" he said.

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