A NEW £15m concert hall and music school for Oxford have come a step closer.

St Edward’s School, in Woodstock Road, has unveiled plans for the £6m music school in South Parade.

Once the music school is finished, work will start on a £9m concert hall with space for a full orchestra which the school wants to make available to the public.

It would be on the site of the former Lemon Tree restaurant and Jack FM radio station.

School warden Stephen Withers Green said: “We’re delighted of course to have reached this stage in the development of St Edward’s Music School.

“The extensive new facilities will be welcomed by pupils and staff who currently produce concerts from outdated premises.

“The music school is the first phase in a major project, the second phase of which is the construction of a world-class concert hall for the school and the city of Oxford.

“It is pleasing on the date of our anniversary celebrations to be marking another milestone in the history of St Edward’s.

“We expect the results of the planning application in the autumn. Work will begin in the summer of 2015 following enabling works.”

In its planning application the school says: “Music plays an vital role in school life at St Edward’s, with an emphasis on the involvement of as many pupils as possible.

“The school has outgrown its existing music building, the Ferguson Music School, and has extended into a nearby single storey building known as the Music Annexe.

“The Ferguson building is outdated and does not have suitable space for orchestras, nor enough music practice and teaching rooms.

“The annexe is poorly constructed, uninsulated and unsuitable.”

When completed, the music school will have a recital room for 130 students, 20 teaching rooms and three classrooms as well as a staff room, instrument store and library.

It is expected to open in September 2016 but it is not yet known when the concert hall will be completed.

St Edward’s has been in talks with Oxford City Council, the planning authority, and Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, over issues such as parking.

A fundraising drive has been launched to pay for the work.

City councillor for Summertown Stuart McCready said: “I am very worried about parking. If there is a concert hall there it will attract a lot of people and a lot of them will want to come by car.

“Apart from that it is a welcome development. I look forward to the Jack FM building going. It has been a target for graffiti.”