The Committee considered an application 21/01449/FUL for full planning permission for 134 dwellings (use class C3), informal open space including community pavilion, seating and children’s play areas, hard and soft landscape and sustainable drainage areas, access, associated roads and infrastructure, car and cycle parking, bin storage, pumping station, substation and associated engineering works at Land South West of St Frideswide Farm, Banbury Road, Oxford.

The Principal Planning Officer presented the report and informed the Committee that:

·              The site was located on the boundary with Cherwell District Council and was a recently allocated site for housing in the new Local Plan, having been excluded from the Green Belt as part of that process;

·              The eastern boundary of the site was expected to ultimately link in to a Cherwell District Council site surrounding the whole of the remainder of the site.  This had been allocated as part of Cherwell’s new Local Plan review (PR6a), and would supply approximately 690 units of housing to help support the City’s need as a part of an agreed shared partnership.  A further 600 houses at the Oxford Golf Club site were also envisaged.  Officers from both authorities continued to discuss the delivery and masterplanning of the sites, including connectivity;

·              The Government’s First Homes policy would become effective in respect of this application from 28 March, and would have implications for this application if not determined by that date;

·              Two conditions had been omitted from the report.  These were (i) to require further details of the play area, seating and gazebo structures; and (ii) to condition obscured glazing and balustrades in Block A and require a minimum height for the balustrades of 1.2 metres from finished floor level.

Aubrey King and Councillor Liz Wade spoke against the application.

Rebecca Bacon, agent and Richard Kelly, applicant spoke in favour of the application.

Members of the Committee asked questions of officers about the details of the application.

The Committee’s discussion included the following points:

·              The concerns expressed by Thames Water about the capacity for foul water drainage from the site and the capacity of the water network;

·              The connectivity between the site and PR6a, and the nature of the boundary at the eastern side of the site;

·              The way in which the fulfilment of the conditions relating to foul water capacity and the water network would be monitored.  In the event of approval of the application, officers were asked to keep ward councillors informed about the discharge of conditions 20 and 21;

·              The development was considered to be of good quality, met social housing requirements and local policy, and would contribute to meeting the needs of some of the 2,700 households currently on the waiting list for Council housing.

In relation to the boundary enclosure on the eastern side it was agreed that conditions 10 and 24 should be amended to emphasise the importance of the eastern boundary and the connectivity with PR6a.

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

After debate and being proposed, seconded and put to the vote, the Committee agreed with the officer’s recommendation to approve the application subject to conditions and the prior completion of a section 106 agreement.

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 subject to the amendment of Conditions 10 and 24 as referred to above and the addition of two further conditions relating to the play area, seating and gazebo and the obscured glazing and balustrades to Block A as outlined above; and grant planning permission 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 were set out in the report; 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; 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 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.