The Committee considered an application (22/02799/FUL) for the erection of a three storey student accommodation building (Use Class C2) and provision of vehicular parking and soft landscaping at Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford.

The Planning Officer gave a presentation and highlighted the following:

·          The application sought approval for a three storey student accommodation building with ensuite bathrooms, kitchen and living rooms within the Wolfson College campus on a site comprising an existing ground level, hard surfaced and impermeable car park.  The proposal would accommodate 50 students who were currently displaced within the city’s private housing market, and would enable approximately 70% of Wolfson College students to live on site.

·          Following publication of the committee report, a comment had been received from a resident of Linton Road relating to the increase in traffic and pollution which they considered would arise from the development.  The Planning Officer responded that students would not be permitted to park on site and that the proposal resulted in a substantial reduction in parking spaces (from 36 to 3). The 3 spaces would comprise 2 accessible spaces and 1 drop-off.  A full travel plan statement and residential travel information pack, to be approved by the Highways Authority, would be conditioned if permission were granted.  This would ensure that sustainable modes of transport were encouraged.  It was therefore considered that the proposal was acceptable in this regard.

·          The building would not be physically linked to the existing Grade II listed College campus buildings, but would be linked visually with its entrance in line with the adjacent walkway to Block B.  It would largely sit on the footprint of the existing car park.  The 3 car parking spaces would be sited on an area of lawn to the west of the proposed building.

·          It was not considered that the proposal would impact the amenity of neighbours, nor that it would be overbearing given the distance between the two buildings and the existing and proposed intervening vegetation.

·          The proposal would result in a 7.53% increase in biodiversity net gain on site and a 46% reduction in carbon emissions when set against the 2021 building regulations.  Compliance with the approved energy statement would be conditioned. 

·          The report before the committee had summarised that the scheme could potentially impact upon a number of protected species including bats, birds, reptiles and badgers.  All of the necessary conditions which would be attached to the planning permission had been listed.  However, details of the relevant legislation relating to each species had been omitted.  The Planning Officer therefore showed a slide which detailed the Local Planning Authority’s duties under the relevant legislation, and how officers considered those duties had been met as they had sought to mitigate the potential impacts.  This had also been circulated to Committee Members prior to the meeting.

·          Officers considered that the proposed development would respond appropriately to the site context, and accord with the overall aims of the Oxford Local Plan policies.  It was therefore recommended for approval, subject to the conditions set out at section 12 of the report.

Natasha Robinson, a local resident, spoke against the application.

The Committee asked questions about the detail of the application, which were responded to by officers.  The Committee’s discussions included, but were not limited to the following:

·          A Committee Member highlighted that whilst a condition relating to the noise levels of plant, machinery and equipment had been included, there was no similar condition relating to the noise level of the new foul water pumping station. 

·          The officers’ assessment was that there was no harm to the setting of the listed buildings or to the wider conservation area arising from the proposal.

·          A Committee Member commented that the reduction in car parking was to be welcomed, as reducing available car parking space was linked to a reduction in car journeys.  Another Committee Member commented that the travel plan which had been conditioned should focus on active travel.

·          The Local Plan set the threshold for the maximum number of students which the Oxford universities could have without provision for their accommodation.  The proposal therefore responded to an ongoing programme of ensuring that the University of Oxford and its colleges provided more accommodation for their students.

·          The public benefits of the scheme in terms of a more efficient use of the site; providing student accommodation; releasing the private accommodation currently being used by students; balancing out the site; and providing landscaping improvements outweighed any negative arising from the loss of the car park.

On being proposed, seconded and put to the vote the Committee agreed with the officer’s recommendation to approve the application for the reasons set out in the report and subject to the required planning conditions set out in the report and an additional condition relating to noise levels for the foul water pumping station.

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 an additional condition relating to noise levels for the foul water pumping station and grant planning permission; 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.

·           resolve any outstanding comments and objections from the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) and finalise recommended conditions.