General

Councillor Upton stated that as a member and trustee of the Oxford Preservation Trust she had taken no part in that organisation’s discussions regarding any of the applications before the Committee.  Councillor Upton stated that she was approaching the applications with an open mind, would listen to all the arguments and weigh up all the relevant facts before coming to a decision.

The Committee considered an application (22/02969/FUL) for partial demolition of and alterations to Littlemore House; erection of 1 no. research and development building (Use Class E) at Littlemore House with ancillary accommodation, clinic, educational floorspace and restaurant; erection of 1 no. research and development building (Use Class E) and 1 no. building to accommodate servicing plant and bicycle parking facilities at plot 18 of the Oxford Science Park; erection of an elevated walkway linking Littlemore House and plot 18 of the Oxford Science Park; and new access arrangements, parking, landscaping, engineering and ground modelling works at Littlemore House, 33 Armstrong Road and plot 18 of the Oxford Science Park.

The Planning Officer gave a presentation and highlighted the following:

·       The application site comprised two connecting parcels of land (Littlemore House and plot 18 of the Oxford Science Park) which were largely separated by woodland, a tributary of Littlemore Brook, and the Newman Place residential development.  A timber-clad elevated walkway was proposed to link the two buildings.

·       The proposal involved the partial demolition of Littlemore House (a non-designated heritage asset) and erection of a new building in quadrangle form connecting to the remaining Littlemore House building.  In addition to offices and laboratories, the building at Littlemore House would provide ancillary uses including a publicly accessible restaurant; accommodation for patients and visitors; a clinic; and educational floor space.  A new raised building at plot 18 would also provide laboratories.

·       The proposal included an extension of the existing footpath in order to link Armstrong Road to the Science Park and the future Cowley Branch Line station.  Access to the footpath would be available to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

·       An ancillary building located beneath the publicly accessible footpath would provide a sub-station, CCTV equipment, waste store, cycle parking and shower facilities.  A plant room would be located below ground.

·       208 parking bays were proposed to be provided across both sites.  This would equate to provision for 35% of staff, and was considered acceptable by the Highways Authority.  Sufficient cycle parking would also be provided across both sites.

·       Solar panels would be mounted on the rooftop of Littlemore House, the elevated walkway and the building at plot 18.  Air-source heat pumps were proposed for heating and cooling of the building, and ground-source heat pumps would provide hot and chilled water.  The scheme would achieve a 41% reduction in carbon emissions at Littlemore House, and a 55% reduction at plot 18 when set against Part L of the 2021 Building Regulations.

·       The submitted drainage strategy proposed the use of blue rooves, permeable paving, extensive landscape features and an attenuation tank.  The Lead Local Flood Authority had expressed no objections to the proposed drainage strategy.

·       The route of the elevated walkway would avoid the root protection areas of the principal woodland trees, and the position of the plot 18 building allowed for the retention of most of the important boundary canopy cover.  A courtyard garden at Littlemore House would provide an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75.

The Committee considered an application (23/00388/FUL) for the demolition of 2 no. canopies to the north elevation and formation of 1 no. canopy to the main entrance; replacement cladding to all elevations; replacement cladding and rooflights to all roofs; and replacement window and fire exit doors at UYS Ltd, Garsington Road, Oxford.

The Planning Officer gave a presentation and highlighted the following:

·            The County Highways Team had raised no objection to the development.

·            The site comprised a large industrial building on the edge of the city.  In addition to the building it consisted of an area of existing car park and hardstanding, with access via a security-controlled gate from Garsington Road through the adjacent Unipart site.

·            The building was well-screened, and visible only from selected views.

·            The building was currently clad in metal sheeting and composite material, coloured in blue and white, which had been extensively damaged as a result of a sprinkler system malfunction during the winter which had led to flooding in areas of the building.  The cladding had also been identified as a potential fire risk.  The proposal included the replacement of the existing cladding across the whole building with new cladding coloured in dark and light grey, and the demolition of a small entrance canopy to the front of the building which would be replaced by a new entrance lobby.

·            It was considered that the new cladding represented an improvement on the existing, which had faded and was in poor condition.  It would also offer improved fire safety.  The proposals were considered to represent necessary works which were required in order to bring the building back into operational employment use, and was therefore considered by officers to be justified in accordance with policies E1 and SP7 of the Oxford Local Plan.  In design terms the proposal was considered to offer enhancement on the appearance of the existing building and accord with policy DH1 of the Local Plan.  The proposals were considered to have no adverse impacts in respect of amenity, nor any other environmental impacts.  The application was therefore recommended for approval for the reasons set out in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in the report.

On being proposed, seconded and put to the vote the Committee agreed with the officer’s recommendation to approve the application for the reasons set out in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in the report.

The Oxford City Planning Committee resolved 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; and

2.      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.

The Committee considered an application (22/02868/FUL) for change of use of part of car park for motorcycle testing/training and part of stadium for storage and office (a sui generis use) for a temporary period of 2 years at Kassam Stadium and Land Adjacent Falcon Close, Oxford.

The Planning Officer gave a presentation and highlighted the following:

·         The proposal sought continued change of use of part of the car park at the Kassam Stadium for motorcycle testing and training, and part of the stadium for storage and office use, for a period of two years.  The application had originally sought a permanent change of use; however, due to officers’ concerns arising from the stadium being part of an allocated site for residential development within the Local Plan, the application had subsequently been amended to seek temporary consent.

·         The site encompassed a large proportion of the Kassam Stadium, adjacent to Grenoble Road to the south-west of Blackbird Leys.  The stadium was currently home to Oxford United Football Club; however, other uses had taken place in and around the site.

·         The proposal involved small scale changes to the use of parts of the stadium site to provide the office and storage areas.  The office area would be provided in the main building, with storage in a cupboard which would be accessed externally.  Change of use of the car park was also sought, to provide the motorcycle training areas. The changes were considered to be small scale in the context of the overall site, which would not prejudice its principal use as a football stadium. 

·         The site was located more than 100 metres away from the nearest residential property: the proposal was therefore considered unlikely to give rise to any adverse impacts on neighbouring properties in terms of noise disturbance.  As hotels were sited to the east and west of the site, the hours of operation had been restricted to between 8am and 8pm, in order to mitigate any adverse impacts on the hotel occupiers.

·         The site had been in operation as a motorcycle training and testing facility since 2008, with no complaints having to date been received in respect of its use.

·         The site included ample parking provision, and the motorcycle testing/training facility had operated successfully for a number of years without conflicting with the other uses of the site, including the use of the stadium.  No objections had been raised by the Highways Authority, subject to requiring the proposed development to be accessed from Grenoble Road only and for the use of the motorcycle training not to take place on match days or concurrently with other large events.

·         For the reasons set out in the report, officers considered that the proposal was acceptable in design and amenity terms and recommended its approval, subject to the conditions outlined in the report.

In discussion a member of the committee commented on the value of offering motorcycle training and testing within the city, given recent and likely future transport changes which could increase demand for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

Recommendation: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2023 as a true and accurate record.

The Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2023 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:

23 May 2023

20 June 2023

18 July 2023

15 August 2023

19 September 2023

17 October 2023

The Committee noted the dates of future meetings.