Site address:           Oxford City Council Depot South Park, Cheney Lane Oxford

Proposal:                 Erection of Visitor Centre comprising cafe/restaurant, tasting room and bar for distillery and public conveniences (Use Class A3).

Officer recommendation: 

The Planning Review Committee is recommended to grant planning permission subject to the following conditions:

1.    Development begun within time limit

2.    Develop in accordance with approved plans    

3.    Samples in Conservation Area - Headington Hill

4.    Contaminated Land 1

5.    Contaminated Land 2

6.    Travel Plan

7.    Construction Traffic Management Plan

8.    Cycle Parking

9.    Drainage Compliance 1

10. Drainage Compliance 2

11. Landscape plan required

12. Landscape carry out by completion

13. Landscape hard surface design – tree roots

14. Landscape underground services – tree roots

15. Tree Protection Plan (TPP) 2

16. Arboricultural Method Statement (AMS) 2

17. Biodiversity enhancements

18. Roof detailing

19. Railing and gate detail

20. Furniture details

21. Lighting details

22. Noise – mechanical plant

23. Machinery – restricted hours

24. Hours of use

The Committee considered a report detailing an application for planning permission to erect a visitor centre comprising cafe/restaurant, tasting room and bar for distillery and public conveniences (Use Class A3) at Oxford City Council Depot, South Park, Cheney Lane, Oxford.

The Planning Officer presented the report, setting out the background to the application and the professional advice from officers.  The existing use of the depot site is a distillery which has been granted planning permission. The proposed development of the visitor centre and other amenities will support the distillery bringing the listed threshing barn back into use.  She explained that the red outline on the site map extended into South Park to include the area where additional landscaping, seating area and hoggin path would be. This area would be open to all users of the park and would remain part of South Park.  It had been included as part of the application because the applicant was paying for the additional work to be done.

The Planning Officer circulated a list of new comments received, and officer updates to the Committee since the application had been called into the Planning Review Committee (attached as minute 32).

She made the following comments on the representations received:

·         The listed threshing barn is not currently in use because of its close proximity to the resident dwelling. Pre-application discussions are ongoing with Environmental Health.

·         Policy HE8:  Important parks and gardens is not a relevant policy as South Park is not a historic park or garden.

·         Light pollution on a dark sky site. Any impact will be mitigated by not allowing lighting between midnight and 5am.

·         The development will actually increase the amount and variety of greenery on the site. The Ecology officer believes the development will have no adverse impact on the wildlife corridor.

·         Loss of trees outside the depot boundary is an agreement with the Council’s Parks department and is not controlled by planning.

·         The Council’s archaeologist believes there is no need for an archaeology assessment on the site.

·         The triangular development (to the SE corner of the site) has since been removed from the application site.

·         There is no enclosure included in the application beyond the existing depot site boundary.

·         Officers have changed their recommendation to read “to grant planning permission subject to the approval of the conditions and no objections being received from Historic England”

The following people spoke against the application: Laura Hollitzer and Peter Edmunds (local residents) and Cllr Tom Hayes (ward councillor for St Clements).

Tom Nicholson and Tagore Ramoutar (applicants), Juliet Burch and Paul Semple (agents) and Debbie Dance (Oxford Preservation Trust) spoke in support of the application.

The Committee asked questions of the officers and public speakers about the details of the application.

The Committee discussion noted, but was not limited to, the following points.

·         The site is an allocated development site and restrictions on lighting hours will reduce the impact of light pollution in the Park.

·         The Ecologist has reviewed the application and is satisfied the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32

Site address:                             Oxford City Council Depot, South Park, Cheney Lane, Oxford

Proposal:                                    Erection of Visitor Centre comprising cafe/restaurant, tasting room and bar for distillery and public conveniences (Use Class A3).

Officer recommendation:

That the West Area Planning Committee resolves to grant planning permission for the reasons stated in the report and subject to the following conditions:

1.         Development begun within time limit.

2.         Develop in accordance with approved plans.

3.         Samples in Conservation Area - Headington Hill.

4.         Contaminated Land 1.

5.         Contaminated Land 2.

6.         Travel Plan.

7.         Construction Traffic Management Plan.

8.         Cycle Parking.

9.         Drainage Compliance 1.

10.      Drainage Compliance 2.

11.      Landscape plan required.

12.      Landscape carry out by completion.

13.      Landscape hard surface design – tree roots.

14.      Landscape underground services – tree roots.

15.      Tree Protection Plan (TPP) 2.

16.      Arboricultural Method Statement (AMS) 2.

17.      Biodiversity enhancements.

18.      Roof detailing.

19.      Railing and gate detail.

20.      Furniture details.

21.      Lighting details.

22.      Noise – mechanical plant.

23.      Machinery – restricted hours.

24.      Hours of use.

The Committee considered a report detailing an application (17/00913/FUL) for planning permission for the erection of a Visitor Centre comprising cafe/restaurant, tasting room and bar for distillery and public conveniences (Use Class A3).

The Planning Officer presented the report. She made the following verbal updates:

·         The Friends of South Park had re-affirmed their objection to the overall scheme but welcomed the provision of public toilets

·         The regarding parking space dimensions in paragraph 24 of the report: 2.7m x 2.5m should read 2.7m x 5m

·         The hours of the pub garden would be restricted until 10:30pm under condition 25 and it would not be reasonable to restrict the hatch serving the park as set out in the committee report. The sale of alcohol from the kiosk can be controlled through licensing.

Local residents Ann Edmunds and Laura Hollitzer spoke against the application. 

In discussion the Committee noted the following points:

·         Hours of operation – the opening hours for the Visitor Centre, including the kiosk, would be managed under Condition 24.  It was anticipated that the Visitor Centre would be open from 9.30am to 11pm but the kiosk and garden would close at 10.30pm. The actual licensing hours for the restaurant and kiosk would be determined by the separate premises licence application.

·         Use of public conveniences – the Visitor Centre had been designed to allow direct access to the public conveniences from the park during opening hours.

·         Shuttle Bus – the shuttle bus service was regarded as a welcome initiative but was not a Highways Authority  requirement; the details of the service (pick up / drop off locations and route) had not been finalised but would be managed through the Travel Plan (Condition 6)

·         Landscaping – it was essential that the Landscaping Plan (Condition 11) should include a requirement for on-going maintenance of the planting

·         Noise and anti-social behaviour – the concerns of local residents about a potential increase in anti-social behaviour were acknowledged however they are not anticipated and could be addressed under the licensing and environmental health regulations.

·         Glazing and light pollution – although the glazed façade of the Visitor Centre might have an impact this should be considered in the context of the site location at the north eastern boundary of South Park and existing lighting on Cheney Lane and Warneford Lane.

·         Land ownership and potential encroachment – the Committee acknowledged the concerns of the public speakers about the potential further encroachment of the distillery activities into the park; and noted the planning officers’ advice events and music are controlled through licensing.

In reaching their decision, the Committee considered the officer’s report, presentation and the views and information provided by the public speakers. The Committee gave careful consideration to the application in regard to Local Plan Policy SR5 – Protection of Public Open Space. On balance they concurred with the planning officer’s assessment that:

The works and seating area outside of the original boundary of the depot help ease of movement and the relationship between the depot and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5