Site address:                  269 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 2AJ      

Proposal:                        Redevelopment of Bartlemas Nursery Site including the removal of the existing nursery buildings and their replacement with a two and a half storey building to provide graduate students accommodation and warden's flat. The proposal includes 21 student rooms with communal kitchen/diner and 9 self-contained 1 or 2 bed units. Provision of 2 disabled parking bays, bicycle and bin storage and communal amenity space. (Amended description)(Amended plans)(Additional information)          

Recommendation:

The West Area Planning Committee is recommended to:

Approve the application for the reasons given in the report subject to

1.     the required planning conditions set out in section 12 of the report; and

·       the satisfactory completion of a legal agreement under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and other enabling powers to secure the planning obligations set out in the recommended heads of terms which are set out in the report; and grant planning permission; 

2.     Agree to delegate authority to the Head of Planning Services to:

·       Finalise the recommended conditions as set out in the report including such refinements, amendments, additions and/or deletions as the Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary; and

·       Finalise the recommended legal agreement under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and other enabling powers as set out in the report, including refining, adding to, amending and/or deleting the obligations detailed in the heads of terms set out in the report (including to dovetail with and where appropriate, reinforce the final conditions and informatives to be attached to the planning permission) as the Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary; and

·       Complete the section 106 legal agreement referred to above and issue the planning permission.

The Committee considered an application (18/02989/FUL) for planning permission for the redevelopment of Bartlemas Nursery Site including the removal of the existing nursery buildings and their replacement with a two and a half storey building to provide graduate students accommodation and warden's flat. The proposal includes 21 student rooms with communal kitchen/diner and 9 self-contained 1 or 2 bed units. Provision of 2 disabled parking bays, bicycle and bin storage and communal amenity space. (Amended description)(Amended plans)(Additional information).

The Planning Officer presented the report.

Nick Welch, representing the Divinity Road Residents Association, spoke against the application. 

Wilf Stephenson (Treasurer, Oriel College), Iona Foster (Architect) and Simon Sharp (agent) spoke in favour of the application.

The Committee considered a number of points of detail on the application, including but not limited to, access via Evelyn Court, the landscaping plans and treatment of the stone wall boundary and the appropriateness of the design of the building.

The Committee discussion focussed on the impact of the proposed development on the significance of the Conservation Area and surrounding heritage assets. The Committee also considered that the application would be a departure from the newly adopted Local Plan, as the siting of the student accommodation did not accord with the locational requirements of Policy H8 of the Oxford Local Plan.

The Committee acknowledged the advice of the planning officers and of the conservation officer, as detailed in the report, that having given great weight to the conservation of the designated heritage assets, the public benefits of the proposed development would outweigh the less than substantial harm caused to significance of the Conservation Area and the setting of the Grade II* listed Bartlemas Farmhouse and Bartlemas House. Notwithstanding this advice the Committee concluded that the decision in regard to the conservation of the application site was finely balanced but this was not proposed as a reason for refusal.

The Committee noted that in the adopted Oxford Local Plan 2036 Policy H8 (provision of new student accommodation) stated that planning permission will only be granted for student accommodation in specific types of location such as in the city centre or a district centre; or on a site which is allocated in the development plan to potentially include student accommodation. The Committee was not persuaded by the arguments and reasons presented by the planning officers to depart from the provisions of Policy H8 of the adopted Oxford Local Plan 2036 in relation to this application.

In reaching its decision, the Committee considered all the information put before it, including the planning officer’s recommendation for approval and the application site’s existing use under the amended Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (effective from 1 September 2020) which would mean that the site could be used for a diverse range of other purposes which would not require the consent of the planning authority.

A proposal to approve the application in accordance with the officer recommendation set out in the report was moved and seconded. On  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27