Agenda item

Agenda item

21/01176/FUL: Former Dominion Oils Site, Railway Lane, Oxford OX4 4PY

Site Address:

Former Dominion Oils Site, Railway Lane, Oxford OX4 4PY

Proposal:

Redevelopment of the Former Dominion Oils site and adj. land to provide residential development comprising 100% affordable housing (50 houses and 40 flats) and open spaces. Estate road, access, footpaths, landscaping, and car parking. (Additional information, amended description and amended plans)

Reason at Committee:

The proposal is a major development

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 13 of this report 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 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 this report including such refinements, amendments, additions and/or deletions as the Head of Planning Services considers reasonably necessary;

·     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.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered an application (21/01176/FUL) for the redevelopment of the former Dominion Oils site and adjacent land to provide residential development comprising 100% affordable housing (50 houses and 40 flats) and open spaces; estate road; access; footpaths; landscaping, and car parking.

The Planning Officer presented the report and showed plans of the development, and drew attention to a number of key points of the scheme:

·       The site comprised a redundant and vacant former employment site which had last been used in excess of 15 years ago as a depot for Dominion Oils and as railway sidings.  Since usage had ceased the site had been vacant, leading to vegetation growth and an increase in biodiversity. However, it been largely cleared by the landowner prior to the submission of the planning application.  The site was a constrained shape, and comprised changes in levels.  The site would need to be levelled as part of the development;

 

·       The development would comprise 100% affordable housing.  Parking was proposed at a ratio of lower than 1:1 (76 spaces to be provided off plot, adjacent to the street);

 

·       The scheme would seek to increase permeability through the site by improving footpath access at three nodes, including provision to be made for a footpath to align with a footpath on St Nicholas Place which could help to facilitate any future addition of a bridge, should this be forthcoming in the future;

 

·       The dwellings would be all electric.  The houses would utilise air source heat pumps and the flats would utilise PV panels;

 

·       The site was not allocated in the Local Plan, but had been previously allocated in the Sites and Housing Plan.  The proposal would contribute to addressing the severe shortage of affordable housing in Oxford.  The affordable housing would be secured as 100% via a Section 106 agreement;

 

·       The proposal was considered to be acceptable in design and heritage terms.  It was also considered acceptable in terms of energy efficiency, crime prevention, trees, flooding, noise and vibration; 

 

·       Highways impact concerns had been addressed by the highways authority, which had raised no objections subject to (i) conditions and managing parking, and (ii) S106 contributions to secure improvements to public transport, a bus shelter, real-time passenger information and a raised table in the junction of Railway Lane and Chapel Lane;

 

·       The biodiversity value of the site had been examined extensively through the use of a biodiversity metric and the scheme comprised an assessment of the impact of the proposal on any protected species.  The metric had assessed the site at pre-clearance levels and identified that 17.96 habitat credits would be required to compensate for the biodiversity lost by the development and the 5% biodiversity net gain required by the Local Plan.  This would not be able to provided in its entirety within the scheme itself; the applicant therefore proposed to off-set in accordance with Policy G2 by paying a financial contribution equivalent to 16 habitat credits to the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment and providing 1.96 credits on site through the open space areas and inclusion of gardens, secured through a S106 agreement.  A population of slowworms had been identified on site, which was a protected species, and a mitigation strategy showing translocation to Shotover Country Park had been proposed;

 

·       Further remediation would be needed in relation to contamination.  The need for further investigation had been conditioned as set out in the report and the results would require approval by the Local Planning Authority and the Environment Agency, who would jointly need to approve a remediation strategy;

 

·       Since production of the report, a representation, dating from July 2021, had been received from Oxford Civic Society which had not previously been uploaded to the planning portal.  This had welcomed the bringing forward of affordable housing but raised concerns about additional vehicular traffic; the level of shared ownership properties; compromises to the quality of the architectural design in order to achieve economies of construction; and security of cycle parking arrangements.  The Planning Officer clarified that at the time the representation had been written (which was a year ago) the comments of the Highways Authority had not been received; however, it had commented subsequently and expressed no objection;

 

·       The application had been closely considered against the policies of the Local Plan and the concerns of local residents taken into account.  Whilst the issues had been finely balanced, it was considered that the delivery of 90 affordable units would make an efficient use of the land and would be a positive use of a neglected area of Railway Lane.  The proposal was therefore recommended for approval, subject to conditions and the completion of a Section 106 agreement.

Frank Gargent, local resident, and Councillor Nadine Bely-Summers spoke against the application.

Nik Lyzba, agent, spoke in favour of the application.

The Committee asked questions of officers and the applicant about the detail of the application, and the following was noted:

·       The site had not been allocated in the Local Plan as it had not been promoted as available and deliverable at the time the current Local Plan was being prepared.  The NPPF was clear that windfall sites were an important part of the process of delivering land for housing;

 

·       20% of the properties would have shared ownership;

 

·       The Highways Authority was satisfied that the width of the access road was adequate for capacity and two-way traffic;

 

·       Thames Water had expressed no concerns with regard to the sewerage infrastructure;

 

·       Informal play equipment was included in the proposal;

 

·       The landowner would be responsible for working with Network Rail with regard to boundary enclosures and ensuring safety regulations were met to prevent direct access to the active railway line;

 

·       There would be no PV panels on the houses; however, PV panels would be provided on the roofs of the flats;

 

·       Sustainable transport issues, including the lack of bus services and the likely need for residents to retain a car, as well as the cumulative impact of developments within Littlemore were identified as a concern;

 

·       The lack of biodiversity compensation being delivered within the development or immediate locality within Oxford City was raised as a detriment of the scheme.

 

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 the conditions set out in the report, any necessary additional conditions, and the satisfactory completion of a legal agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and other enabling powers, and to delegate authority to the Head of Planning Services to finalise the legal agreement and the recommended conditions and informatives.

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 13 of the report 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 are 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;

 

·      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 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.

Supporting documents: