Proposal: Redevelopment of existing Church to provide new Church building, community facilities and 21 residential units (10 x 1 bed and 10 x 2 bed flats, and 1 x 4 bed house). (Revised Plans). (Additional information).

Site address: Holy Family Church, 1 Cuddesdon Way, Oxford, OX4 6JH

The East Area Planning Committee is recommended to:

1.    Approve the application (18/03405/FUL) subject to the concurrence of the Secretary of State, and subject to the satisfactory receipt of comments from the Local Lead Flood Authority, the satisfactory receipt of a further Health Impact Assessment and subject to the prior completion of an agreement made pursuant to section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and other enabling powers to secure the planning obligations which are referred to in this report and subject also to the required planning conditions set out in section 12 of this report and delegate authority to the Head of Planning Services to:

·         refer the application to the Secretary of State and, subject to him not directing refusal of the application :-

·         finalise the recommended conditions as set out in this 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 this 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 or,

2.    delegate authority to the Head of Planning Services to refuse planning permission should the Secretary of State recommend that the application be refused for such reasons as the Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary.

3.    Delegate authority to the Head of Planning Services to decide whether to refer the application back to Committee should the Local Lead Flooding Authority not remove their objection and/or if the satisfactory receipt of a revised Health Impact Assessment hasn’t been received.

The Committee considered an application (18/03405/FUL) for the redevelopment of existing Church to provide new Church building, community facilities and 21 residential units (10 x 1 bed and 10 x 2 bed flats, and 1 x 4 bed house).

The Planning Officers gave a joint presentation which addressed the reports for both the listed building consent application and the full planning application.

The Planning Officer referred the Committee to the contents of the corrigendum (published on 6 April 2021), specifically:

·       a policy update regarding the principle of the development;

·       the Local Lead Flood Authority (LLFA) had confirmed that they had no objection to the application, and considered the application complied with policy RE4 of the Local Plan in that regard

The Planning Officer also reported a correction to the revised recommendation set out in the corrigendum: the bullet point shown at Recommendation (2) should be moved to form the final bullet point at Recommendation (1).

Reverend Heather Carter (applicant) spoke in support of the application and answered questions from the Committee. Hugo Llewelyn (agent) and Richard Peats (Historic England) were also present and answered questions from the Committee.

In reaching its decision, the Committee considered all the information put before it. The Committee considered that redevelopment of the church, with the provision of a new church, community café, meeting hall, incubator units and residential units was acceptable in respect of the overarching sustainable development objectives and policies of the Local Plan.

The Committee considered that the total loss of the Listed Building was justified and the provision of public benefits comprising the reinstatement of an ecumenical church; the provision of new community facilities; and the addition of 20 new homes, outweighed the substantial harm and total loss of the grade II listed church.  The Committee considered the replacement church and community facilities would deliver a high quality civic building and that the residential building would be acceptable within the heart of the District Centre. 

The Committee considered the impacts of the development on the community in respect of amenity/noise; transport; flooding and drainage; biodiversity; trees; green infrastructure and energy efficiency.  Further, whilst an initial Health Impact Assessment had been received, a further more detailed Health Impact Assessment was required and receipt of satisfactory comments were awaited.

After debate and on being proposed, seconded and put to the vote, the Committee agreed with the officer’s recommendation to approve the application as set out below.

The East Area Planning Committee resolved to:

1.       approve the application subject to the concurrence of the Secretary of State, and subject to the satisfactory receipt of a further Health Impact Assessment and subject to the prior completion of an agreement made pursuant to section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and other enabling powers to secure the planning obligations which were referred to in the report and subject also to the required planning conditions set out in section 12 of the report and delegate authority to the Head of Planning Services to:

·       refer the application to the Secretary of State and, subject to him not directing refusal of the application:

·       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; and

·       decide whether to refer the application back to Committee if the satisfactory receipt of a revised Health Impact Assessment hasn’t been received, or,

2.     delegate authority to the Head of Planning Services to refuse planning permission should the Secretary of State recommend that the application be refused for such reasons as the Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary.

Councillor Taylor re-joined the meeting and took the chair at the end of this item.