The Head of City Development has submitted a report which details a planning application for the construction of two all weather playing pitches, plus a new residential development consisting of 6 x 1 bed flats, 15 x 2 bed flats, 6 x 3 bed flats, 13 x 3 bed houses and 3 x 4 bed houses, together with access road, parking, landscaping etc accessed off Barracks Lane.

Officer recommendation: That the Committee REFUSE the application for the following reasons:

1.      The application site has been in use for formal and informal sport and recreation until recently. Although the site is now fenced it has not been clearly shown that the site is surplus to requirements for sport or recreation. The site retains the potential to provide for types of open air sport and recreation for which there is a need in the City. The replacement sports facilities in the form of all-weather mini-pitches with restricted community access are not equal to or better than retaining the potential of the site to provide for open air sport and recreation. Further it is not essential that the all-weather mini-pitches are provided on this particular site to satisfy local need. For these reasons the proposal does not accord with the NPPF, Policy CS21 of the Core Strategy, or Policy SR2 of the Oxford Local Plan.

2.      The site meets the requirements of the NPPF as a local green space, valued local amenity which will be lost by developing housing on part of the site and diminished on the mini-pitches part of the site. The all-weather mini-pitches do not form an acceptable alternative to retention of this green space. This is contrary to guidance in the NPPF and Policies CS21 of the Core Strategy and SR2 of the Oxford Local Plan.

3        The development is contrary to Policy CS2 of the Core Strategy in that      the site is not allocated for development nor is it needed to meet the NPPF 5 or 10 year housing land availability requirements. There are no        other balancing reasons or mitigating circumstances why housing should be allowed on this site. It is not essential that the housing or all-weather mini-pitch developments are developed on this particular site       which it is preferable to retain as open space for the well-being of the community it serves.

4        The proposed number of dwellings constitutes an overdevelopment of the site in that it restricts the opportunity to create a high quality housing layout. The largely rectilinear disposition of buildings, the scale, bulk and massing of the block encompassing plots 26-43, and the absence of landmark buildings or features would fail to create a strong sense of place. The public realm would not be a visually attractive environment as it would be dominated by on-street parking with few front gardens, very little green space and no opportunities for landmark or focal-point planting/features. The gardens to plots 26, 27, 32, 33, 38 and 39 which include family units would be too restricted in size. Bin and cycle storage provision would be inadequate and not always conveniently located for use by all occupants of the houses or flats, and there would be inadequate room at the front of the houses/flats to make up these deficiencies. For these reasons the proposal does not accord with guidance on the design of development set out in the NPPF, Policies CP1, CP6 and CP8 of the Oxford Local Plan, Policy CS18 of the Core Strategy or Policies HP9, HP13 and HP15 of the Sites and Housing DPD.

5        The proposed layout would result in a loss of amenity to some existing properties adjacent to the site boundary namely: inter-visibility between plot 2 and number 11 Crescent Close; overlooking the garden area of 11 Crescent Close from plots 6, 7, and 10 to 13; and noise and light disturbance to properties in Beresford Place arising from the location of the access road near to north facing habitable rooms. For these reasons the proposal does not accord with guidance on the design of development set out in Policies CP6 and CP8 of the Oxford Local Plan, Policy CS18 of the Core Strategy or Policies HP9 and HP14 of the Sites and Housing DPD.

6        Although the layout is unlikely directly to affect the viability of the important amenity trees on the site periphery, there are concerns that the trees will come under pressure for reduction due to overshadowing the gardens to plots 26, 27, 32, 33, 38 and 39; and reducing the daylight available to plots 26 to 43. The tree work that will be necessary to significantly improve the light situation is likely to have a significant harmful effect on amenity in the area. For these reasons the proposal does not accord with guidance on the design of development set out in Policies CP6 and CP8 of the Oxford Local Plan, Policy CS18 of the Core Strategy or Policy HP9 of the Sites and Housing DPD.

7        The proposed development fails to comply with the guidance of the NPPF concerning using natural resources prudently, minimising waste and pollution, adapting to climate change and moving to a low carbon economy; and fails to meet the standards of resource efficiency required by the Council’s adopted planning polices on energy, natural resources, waste and recycling, namely Core Strategy Policy CS9, Sites and Housing Plan Policy HP11, and Local Plan Policies CP17 and CP18.

The Head of City Development submitted a report (previously circulated now appended) which detailed a planning application for the construction of two all weather playing pitches, plus a new residential development consisting of 6 x 1 bed flats, 15 x 2 bed flats, 6 x 3 bed flats, 13 x 3 bed houses and 3 x 4 bed houses, together with access road, parking, landscaping etc accessed off Barracks Lane.

In accordance with the criteria for public speaking, the Committee noted that Judith Harley and Gus Bianchini spoke against the application and Nik Lyzba spoke in favour of it.

After taking all written and oral submissions into account, the Committee resolved (by 7 votes to 0) to REFUSE the planning application for the following reasons:

1.      The application site has been in use for formal and informal sport and recreation until recently. Although the site is now fenced it has not been clearly shown that the site is surplus to requirements for sport or recreation. The site retains the potential to provide for types of open air sport and recreation for which there is a need in the City. The replacement sports facilities in the form of all-weather mini-pitches with restricted community access are not equal to or better than retaining the potential of the site to provide for open air sport and recreation. Further it is not essential that the all-weather mini-pitches are provided on this particular site to satisfy local need. For these reasons the proposal does not accord with the NPPF, Policy CS21 of the Core Strategy, or Policy SR2 of the Oxford Local Plan.

2.      The site meets the requirements of the NPPF as a local green space, valued local amenity which will be lost by developing housing on part of the site and diminished on the mini-pitches part of the site. The all-weather mini-pitches do not form an acceptable alternative to retention of this green space. This is contrary to guidance in the NPPF and Policies CS21 of the Core Strategy and SR2 of the Oxford Local Plan.

3        The development is contrary to Policy CS2 of the Core Strategy in that the site is not allocated for development nor is it needed to meet the NPPF 5 or 10 year housing land availability requirements. There are no other balancing reasons or mitigating circumstances why housing should be allowed on this site. It is not essential that the housing or all-weather mini-pitch developments are developed on this particular site       which it is preferable to retain as open space for the well-being of the community it serves.

4        The proposed number of dwellings constitutes an overdevelopment of the site in that it restricts the opportunity to create a high quality housing layout. The largely rectilinear disposition of buildings, the scale, bulk and massing of the block encompassing plots 26-43, and the absence of landmark buildings or features would fail to create a strong sense of place. The public realm would not be a visually attractive environment as it would be dominated by on-street parking with few front gardens, very little green space and no opportunities for landmark or focal-point planting/features. The gardens to plots 26, 27, 32, 33, 38 and 39 which include family units would be too restricted in size. Bin and cycle storage provision would be inadequate and not always conveniently located for use by all occupants of the houses or flats, and there would be inadequate room at the front of the houses/flats to make up these deficiencies. For these reasons the proposal does not accord with guidance on the design of development set out in the NPPF, Policies CP1, CP6 and CP8 of the Oxford Local Plan, Policy CS18 of the Core Strategy or Policies HP9, HP13 and HP15 of the Sites and Housing DPD.

5        The proposed layout would result in a loss of amenity to some existing properties adjacent to the site boundary namely: inter-visibility between plot 2 and number 11 Crescent Close; overlooking the garden area of 11 Crescent Close from plots 6, 7, and 10 to 13; and noise and light disturbance to properties in Beresford Place arising from the location of the access road near to north facing habitable rooms. For these reasons the proposal does not accord with guidance on the design of development set out in Policies CP6 and CP8 of the Oxford Local Plan, Policy CS18 of the Core Strategy or Policies HP9 and HP14 of the Sites and Housing DPD.

6        Although the layout is unlikely directly to affect the viability of the important amenity trees on the site periphery, there are concerns that the trees will come under pressure for reduction due to overshadowing the gardens to plots 26, 27, 32, 33, 38 and 39; and reducing the daylight available to plots 26 to 43. The tree work that will be necessary to significantly improve the light situation is likely to have a significant harmful effect on amenity in the area. For these reasons the proposal does not accord with guidance on the design of development set out in Policies CP6 and CP8 of the Oxford Local Plan, Policy CS18 of the Core Strategy or Policy HP9 of the Sites and Housing DPD.

7        The proposed development fails to comply with the guidance of the NPPF concerning using natural resources prudently, minimising waste and pollution, adapting to climate change and moving to a low carbon economy; and fails to meet the standards of resource efficiency required by the Council’s adopted planning polices on energy, natural resources, waste and recycling, namely Core Strategy Policy CS9, Sites and Housing Plan Policy HP11, and Local Plan Policies CP17 and CP18.