General

Councillor Cook stated that as a Council appointed trustee for the Oxford Preservation Trust and as a member of the Oxford Civic Society, he had taken no part in those organisations’ discussions or decision making regarding the applications before the Committee.  He said that he was approaching all of the applications with an open mind, would listen to all the arguments and weigh up all the relevant facts before coming to a decision.

Councillor Upton stated that as a Council appointed trustee for the Oxford Preservation Trust and as a member of the Oxford Civic Society, she had taken no part in those organisations’ discussions or decision making regarding the applications before the Committee.  She said that she was approaching all of the applications with an open mind, would listen to all the arguments and weigh up all the relevant facts before coming to a decision.

21/01185/FUL

Councillor Chapman stated that as the ward councillor for Headington Hill and Northway he had been contacted by local residents but that he had expressed no view on the application and had not made his mind up on the matter and approached it with an open mind.

21/01217/FUL

Councillor Pegg stated that she worked for The Wildlife Trusts and that, whilst she was aware that BBOWT (Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust) had commented on the application, she had not been involved in that and she had not made her mind up on the matter, and approached it with an open mind.

Site address:                  Site Of Blocks C F G H J K L and M, Clive Booth Hall, John Garne Way, Oxford, OX3 0FN

Proposal:                        Demolition of twelve buildings (including main accommodation Blocks C, F, G, H, J, K, L and M) and erection of twelve buildings to provide student accommodation, with ancillary communal and social facilities and associated administrative building (Class C2). Erection of children's nursery (Class E). Alterations to car parking, installation of cycle parking structures and associated landscaping works, including reorganisation of existing footpaths and cycle ways, drainage features and ancillary development. Installation of a waste compactor unit and alterations to an existing road to enable access.    

Recommendation:

The Oxford City Planning Committee is recommended to:

1.     Resolve to approve the application subject to:

·       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

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;

·       complete the recommended legal agreement under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and other enabling powers as set out in this 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

·       issue the planning permission

The Committee considered an application (21/01185/FUL) for planning permission for the demolition of twelve buildings (including main accommodation Blocks C, F, G, H, J, K, L and M) and the erection of twelve buildings to provide student accommodation, with ancillary communal and social facilities and associated administrative building (Class C2) and the erection of children's nursery (Class E). Alterations to car parking, installation of cycle parking structures and associated landscaping works, including reorganisation of existing footpaths and cycle ways, drainage features and ancillary development. Installation of a waste compactor unit and alterations to an existing road to enable access.

The Planning Officer presented the report and advised that since the previous application was refused, the applicant has undergone extensive pre-application discussion with officers and carried out two rounds of public consultation with the local community. She highlighted the main differences between the current application and 18/02587/FUL which had been refused in June 2019 (as detailed in paragraphs 10.6 and 10.7 of the report):

·       the adoption of the Oxford Local Plan 2036 in June 2020 is a material consideration as it allocates the Clive Booth Student Village site for development, including student accommodation, under Policy SP17. 

·       the reduction in the net gain of student beds from 615 to 573.

·       the reduction in the height of the flatted buildings on the western part of the site from 6/7 storeys to 5/6 storeys.

·       The movement of buildings 3 and 5 away from the northern boundary of the site in the vicinity of John Garne Way allotments to reduce overshadowing in the winter months and early in the day at other times of the year.

·       the reduction in the height of buildings 3 and 6 to two storeys nearest to the boundary with John Garne Way allotments to reduce overshadowing of the allotments.

·       the movement of building 12 away from the boundary with residential properties on Pullens Field to improve amenity impact on Pullens Field.

·       changes to the footprint and position of the buildings to allow for the retention of a greater number of higher quality trees and to retain a greater number of trees, with the greatest life expectancy, especially those that are necessary around the boundary and for layering through the site in filtering views in the locality. 

·       a revised design approach to the building’s façade through a change in a materiality and greater articulation.

The Planning Officer reported the following typographical amendments:

·       Para 3.1 insert “or any other public realm scheme” after “21/01368/FUL and 21/01369/LBC”

·       Para 10.249 replace “qualify” with “quantify”

The Planning Officer concluded by reminding the Committee of the relevance of Policy H9 of the Oxford Local Plan.  This policy links the delivery of new/redeveloped and refurbished university academic facilities to the delivery of university provided residential accommodation, and effectively ensures that provision of academic/administrative facilities for Oxford Brookes does not result in an increase in student numbers or the number of students living in Oxford in non-university accommodation does not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

Site address:                         Land To The West Of Mill Lane, Marston, Oxford, OX3 0QA

Proposal:                               Erection of 80 residential dwellings (use class C3) formed of 13 one-bedroom apartments and 28 two-, 35 three- and 4 four-bedroom houses with associated public open space, access and landscaping           

Recommendation:

The Oxford City Planning Committee is recommended to:

1.    Approve the application for the reasons given in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in section 12 of the report and grant planning permission subject to:

·         The satisfactory completion of a legal agreement under section106 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 this report; and

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 this 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 (21/01217/FUL) for planning permission for the erection of 80 residential dwellings (use class C3) formed of 13 one-bedroom apartments and 28 two-, 35 three- and 4 four-bedroom houses with associated public open space, access and landscaping.

The Planning Officer presented the report. He advised the Committee that a letter circulated by the Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT), after the publication of the agenda, initially made reference to the lack of a “winter” Local View Impact Assessment (LVIA).  He confirmed that such a LVIA had been submitted and that the OPT letter had been revised to reflect that.

Charlotte Vinnicombe (Old Marston Parish Councillor and Chair of the Elsfield Road and Oxford Road Old Marston Residents’ Association), Debbie Dance (Oxford Preservation Trust) and Roger Crisp (Friends of Old Marston) spoke against the application. 

Vicky Trietline (Oxford City Housing Limited) and Ghazala Javed (Arcadis) spoke in favour of the application with Andrew Wilkins available for questions on design or highways matters from the Committee.

The Committee asked questions of the officers about the details of the application. The Committee noted that this application raised the same issues regarding traffic flows, road safety, parking and cycle paths which had been discussed and debated in relation to a separate, but adjacent, application at the meeting on 26 May 2021.

The Committee indicated that they would like a dialogue to be re-opened with Oxfordshire County Council to explore the possibility of creating access via the A40.  Planning Officers explained that such a condition or informative would not be considered reasonable.  It was a matter for the City Council to take forward through other channels.

In reaching its decision, the Committee considered all the information put before it. The Committee concluded that, on balance, the public benefits identified in the report outweighed their concerns about the traffic issues.

After debate and on being proposed, seconded and put to the vote, the Committee agreed with the officer’s recommendation to approve the application, subject to the provision that the section 106 legal agreement allows sufficient flexibility for the financial contribution, which was allocated to be spent on improvements to Back Lane to be spent on alternative improvements to other public rights of way or pedestrian and cycle infrastructure in the immediate area where this is considered to be appropriate. 

The Oxford City Planning Committee resolved to:

1.     Approve the applicationfor the reasons given in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in section 12 of the report and grant planning permission subject to:

·       The satisfactory completion of a legal agreement under section106 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 subject to the amendment detailed above regarding funding for enhancements to public rights of way and/or cycle infrastructure in the area.

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

·       Finalise the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

Recommendation: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2021 as a true and accurate record.

The Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 7 September 2021 as a true and accurate record.

Items currently expected to be considered by the committee at future meetings are listed for information. This is not a definitive list and applications may be added or removed at any point. These are not for discussion at this meeting.

The Committee noted the list of forthcoming applications.

Future meetings of the Committee are scheduled at 6.00pm on:

Overspill meetings, if necessary should the Committee adjourn the meeting are scheduled for 6.00pm on:

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings.

In view of the large number of forthcoming applications the Committee agreed to schedule additional meetings during November and December 2021. The exact dates to be confirmed.