The Committee considered a reserved matters application (22/02880/RES) for erection of 1no. laboratory enabled office building for research and development with ancillary commercial space (all within use class E); erection of 1no. building to accommodate motor vehicles, cycles and end of journey facilities; provision of new access, external visitor cycle parking, landscaping and services infrastructure; approval of reserved matters (access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale) pursuant to planning permission 12/01424/EXT (amended description, plans and documents) at Plot 2000, John Smith Drive, Oxford.

The Planning Officer gave a presentation and highlighted the following:

·         The site location was an undeveloped plot off John Smith’s Drive, extending to approximately 1.13ha, located on a Category 1 employment site.  The application proposed the erection of an eight-storey Category 2 laboratory and office building, and a four-storey multi-storey car park with showers, changing and drying rooms, mechanical plant and refuse storage.  The separation of the laboratory building and the multi-storey car park, with a 13m gap, allowed for sufficient site permeability and further opportunity for tree, shrub and green wall planting.  It also served to minimise the negative impact of cumulative development on key views out of the city centre.

·         The proposal included the planting of 44 new native trees, in addition to off-site planting along a section of John Smith’s Drive and roundabout.  This would result in a 16% net gain in tree canopy cover over 25 years.

·         The multi-storey car park would accommodate 302 car parking bays, 18 motorcycle bays and 213 cycle bays in addition to the end-of-journey facilities.  22 cycle parking stands would be located externally for visitors.

·         The site’s location in the southern suburbs of the city was considered appropriate for the additional height, given its relatively unconstrained nature in planning policy terms.  In addition, the site’s position within the park acted as a gateway from the eastern bypass, making it a suitable location for a ‘marker’ building.

·         The proposed development, although large, had been carefully designed to mitigate its harmful impact to the local and wider site context. 

·         Officers had concluded that the proposal would cause a low level of less than substantial harm to the setting of the central conservation area, the Grade II* listed Town Hall and the setting of the Grade I listed Lincoln College library spire.  It was considered that the pressing need for lab-enabled office space provided clear and convincing justification for the heritage harm caused and that the public benefits (which included the local economic uplift, a commitment to employ a proportion of local residents, a 5.28% net gain in biodiversity within ARC Oxford, a 16% net gain in tree canopy cover, and a 43.3% reduction in carbon emissions) would outweigh the low level of less than substantial harm.

·         Officers considered that the proposed development would respond appropriately to the site context, the Oxford Business Park site allocation and the Local Plan policies as a whole.  The application was therefore recommended for approval subject to a section 106 legal agreement and the finalisation of conditions.

Stephen Sensecall (agent) spoke in favour of the application.

The Committee asked questions about the details of the application which were responded to by officers and the agent. 

The Committee’s discussions included, but were not limited to:

·       The site was an important one in the context of East Oxford, and the plot had remained empty for a significant period of time.  The proposal therefore represented an opportunity to create an impressive development which would generate a significant number of jobs.

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 this report; and

2.         delegate authority to the Head of Planning and Regulatory 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 and Regulatory 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 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 and Regulatory Services considers reasonably necessary; and

·       complete the section 106 legal agreement referred to above and issue the planning permission.