The Committee considered an application (21/03622/VAR) for variation of Condition 2 (deemed in accordance with approved plans) of planning permission 18/00872/FUL (demolition of existing Helena Kennedy building and erection of a replacement academic building for the Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment (amended plans)) to allow an additional level within the existing built envelope and without altering the roofline following asbestos excavation; internal and external reconfiguration including on landscape, internal layouts, floorspace, and architecture and associated operational and design changes at Helena Kennedy Centre, Headington Hill, Headington, Oxford OX3 0BT.

The Planning Officer presented the report and the following was highlighted:

·          Planning permission for the removal of the Helena Kennedy Centre had been granted in 2018.  During the demolition and site clearance works the need for asbestos removal below the concrete slab at the base of the building had been identified.  This had necessitated a greater amount of excavation than planned, leading to a change in levels across the site.  Consequently, a revised proposal had been developed to include an extra floor to the building, adding 2852 sqm of floorspace without increasing the height or footprint.  However, there were changes to the external appearance, including: fenestration design, changes to the floor layout, addition of a café at the ground floor level, and changes to landscaping and parking.

·          The revised scheme included a reduction in parking spaces from 40 to 26, which was considered beneficial in terms of encouraging a modal shift away from private car use.  It also included the installation of EV charging points for at least 25% of the proposed spaces, to be secured by planning condition.  Increased cycle parking (320 spaces in total) would be required as a result of the increase in floor space which would be delivered by a phased approach.

·          No further tree removal was required; however, the new amphitheatre would encroach on the root protection area of one of the retained trees.  The Council’s Tree Officer had advised that subject to securing an arboricultural method statement ahead of the development, this would not compromise the integrity of the retained tree.

·          It was the view of officers that the proposal complied with the Oxford Local Plan, the Headington Neighbourhood Plan and the NPPF, and that the public benefits of the scheme outweighed the less than substantial harm to the setting of the grade II* listed building Headington Hill Hall and to the setting of the conservation area.

Jerry Woods, Director of Estates and Campus Services at Oxford Brookes University and Glen Moses, architect, spoke in favour of the application.

The Committee asked questions of officers and the applicant about the details of the application. 

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

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

The Oxford City Council 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 set out in the report including such refinements, amendments, additions and / or deletions as the Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary.