Site address:                  Land At The Rear Of 478 And 480 Banbury Road, Oxford (Riddell Place)

Proposal:                        Erection of 2 x 4-bed dwellinghouse (Use Class C3). Provision of car parking, bin and bike storage.                   

Called in by Cllrs Goddard, Wilkinson, Goff and Fooks on behalf of concerned residents on the grounds of potential overdevelopment, overlooking, adverse effect on neighbouring properties, and parking concerns.

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 12 of this report and grant planning permission.

(b) Agree to delegate authority to the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services to:

1. 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 Committee considered an application (17/03400/FUL) for planning permission for the erection of 2 x 4-bed dwellinghouse (Use Class C3) and the provision of car parking, bin and bike storage.

The application had been called-in to Committee by Councillors Goddard, Wilkinson, Goff and Fooks on behalf of concerned residents on the grounds of potential overdevelopment, overlooking, adverse effect on neighbouring properties, and parking concerns.

The Planning Officer presented the report and referred the Committee to the following corrections to the report:

·       Paragraph 9.40 page 77 under Car parking – the word “not” is missing from the 10^th line. For clarity it should read: The manouvering space that would be provided for four cars is acceptable and although it would create a fairly constrained arrangement if four vehicles were parked it would NOT be detrimental to highway safety and would be appropriate having had regard to the low vehicle speeds.

·       Para 9.41 mentions that the Banbury Road properties have sufficient parking within their plots, accessed from Banbury Road. This is not correct. In fact only one property benefits from vehicular access from Banbury Road. Regardless of this all three properties have garages accessed from Riddell Place that are considered sufficient provision within their own plots for this sustainable location. As a result this does not change the officer’s recommendation or the view on adequate parking provisions. There are no objections from the Local Highway Authority.

Beryl Knotts and Ann Fallows (local residents) spoke against the application. 

Chris Bright (applicant) spoke in favour of the application.

The Committee discussion included, but was not limited to, the following points:

·       That any concerns about the ownership and use of the private road (Riddell Place) were private civil matters and not relevant to the planning application

·       The residual amenity space at the rear of 480 Banbury Road (within the application site) was considered acceptable and would not constitute grounds for refusal of the application

·       That the parking and safety concerns raised by the local residents were addressed in the officer report and that although the arrangements were constrained they met the required standards and there were no objections from the Highway Authority

·       That although the limited scope for landscaping in the public realm was regrettable and replacement tree planting in the private gardens could not be secured by condition it was hoped that the applicants would be mindful of the Committee’s observations

The Committee expressed concern about the traffic and safety implications of access to the application site during the construction phase and, having taken advice from the Senior Planning Officer, determined that a further condition should be included to require the submission of a construction traffic management plan.

In reaching its decision, the Committee considered all the information put before it. 

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

The West Area Planning Committee resolved to:

(a)    Approve the application for the reasons given in the report and subject to the 11 required planning conditions set out in section 11 of the report and the inclusion of a further condition requiring a construction traffic management plan and grant planning permission; and

(b)    Delegate authority to the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services to:

1.     Finalise the recommended conditions as set out in the report including such refinements, amendments, additions and/or deletions as the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services considers reasonably necessary.

Councillor Price left the meeting before the vote on this item.

Councillor Lygo left the meeting following the vote on this item.