Site address:           Land To The Rear Of 200 Woodstock Road  OX2 7NH       

Proposal:                Variation of condition 2 (Develop in accordance with approved plans) of planning permission 16/00147/FUL (Erection of 1 x 3 bedroom dwellinghouse (Use Class C3). Erection of garage. Provision of car parking space, private amenity space, bin and cycle storage (amended plans)) to allow for an extension to the basement area. (Amended plans and description)         

Recommendation:

The West Area Planning Committee is recommended to:

(a)  approve the application for the reasons given in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in section 11 of this report and grant planning permission;

(b)  agree to delegate authority to the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services to finalise the recommended conditions as set out in this report including such refinements, amendments, additions and/or deletions as the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services considers reasonably necessary.

The Chair took this item next.

The Committee considered an application (17/02280/VAR) for planning permission for the variation of condition 2 (Develop in accordance with approved plans) of planning permission 16/00147/FUL (Erection of 1 x 3 bedroom dwellinghouse (Use Class C3). Erection of garage. Provision of car parking space, private amenity space, bin and cycle storage (amended plans)) to allow for an extension to the basement area.

The application had been called in by Cllrs Fooks, Wade, Wilkinson and Goddard due to concerns over the size of basement and consequent reduction of permeable area and outdoor amenity space, and the boundary treatment being out of character in the street scene.

The application was considered at West Area Planning Committee on 14 November 2017 and the decision was deferred pending further information regarding a previous refusal on the site and further drainage information.

The Planning Officer presented the report and addressed the concerns raised by the Committee at the previous meeting.  The Planning Officer said that theoverall scale of the refused application 15/00954/FUL was larger than that of the approved application 16/00147/FUL because it included a two-storey side bay, a larger basement and higher ridge height.

The Planning Officer went on to explain that the application that was refused had outdoor amenity space that was split level with a sunken semi-basement outdoor space. The outdoor space was therefore not considered sufficient or satisfactory for a family dwelling. The variation proposal before the Committee has the same area and arrangement of garden as the approved scheme with direct access to a useable garden.  This outdoor space is acceptable for a three-bedroom dwelling.

The Planning Officer confirmed that approval of the application currently under consideration would not contradict the refusal of 15/00954/FUL.

The Planning Officer referred the Committee to paragraphs 9.13 to 9.17 of the report and confirmed that there were no grounds to refuse the basement enlargement due to flood risk or drainage issues as the site is not at an unacceptable risk of flooding from rivers or surface water.

Paul Fisher (neighbour) spoke against the application. 

Titilola Ajayi-Jones (applicant) spoke in favour of the application.

In discussion the Committee concluded that the outdoor amenity space provided was on balance acceptable for the size of the proposed dwelling but that it would be advisable to include a condition to restrict any future applications to increase the size of the dwelling and thereby reduce the ratio of amenity space to footprint.

On being put to the vote a majority of the Committee agreed with the officer recommendation.

The West Area Planning Committee resolved to:

1.     approve the application for the reasons given in the report and subject to the 11 required planning conditions and 3 informatives set out in section 11 of the report ;

2.     include a new condition to restrict the size of the dwelling to a 3 bedroom property;

3.     grant planning permission; and

4.       agree to delegate authority to the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services to finalise the recommended conditions as set out in this report including such refinements, amendments, additions and/or deletions as the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services considers reasonably necessary.