Site address: Sandford Gate, Sandy Lane West, Oxford, Oxfordshire.

Proposal: Demolition of existing office buildings (Use Class E). Erection of 3no. laboratory enabled office buildings (Use Class E), 1 no. building to accommodate car and bicycle parking facilities and mechanical plant and 1no. building to accommodate mechanical plant and amenity space. Provision of new access arrangements, landscaping and external cycle parking.

Reason at Committee: Major development.

RECOMMENDATION

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 12 of this report and grant planning permission; and 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 and Regulatory 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 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 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 and Regulatory Services considers reasonably necessary; and

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

The Committee considered an application (24/01631/FUL) for the demolition of existing office buildings (Use Class E). Erection of 3no. laboratory enabled office buildings (Use Class E), 1 no. building to accommodate car and bicycle parking facilities and mechanical plant and 1no. building to accommodate mechanical plant and amenity space. Provision of new access arrangements, landscaping and external cycle parking.

The Planning Officer gave a presentation and provided the following updates and clarifications:

•         One verbal update noted the travel plan monitoring fee which is set out in the list of planning obligations has been reduced from £13,060 down to £6,530. The Planning Officer stated that this is to cover one framework travel plan and one full travel plan for the whole site rather than three full travel plans for each building. This change came following discussions with the applicants and a further understanding of how the multi-storey car park will be managed.

•         The building which was proposed would include a learning lab located in one of the ground floor buildings, dedicated to tailoring the needs of local school children. The plan would have a breakout space, a lab area and toilets. The plans would be developed in consultation with the River Learning Trust.

•         A single-storey Pavilion Building would provide a flexible space with toilets which would be available for public use, and this would be secured within the section 106. There would be potential to offer space for various events such as community workshops, public meetings, staff collaboration, and informal breakout space. The proposal would deliver a gross internal area of 20,730 square metres. The multistorey car park would be accessed through a partial two-way entry point of Sandy Lane West and would accommodate 299 car parking bays, with four accessible bays provided externally to the rear of the Pavilion building. In addition to this, eight visitor spaces would be provided on site. The multistorey carpark would accommodate 280 cycle parking spaces with 50 spaces located externally throughout the site and 15 electric scooter spaces adjacent to the external cycle parking.

•         The applicant would carry out improvement works and resurface and widen the pedestrian lane across sandy west lane and enhance lighting and widen the underpass where possible.

•         Double yellow lines would be extended along Sandy Lane West to help avoid unauthorised parking and two road humps would be installed to reduce vehicle speeds. In order to reinstate the bus service and enhance the sites sustainability, the applicant would carry out works to bring the bus turnaround area back into use. Works include the removing of existing bollards, curb realignment to allow double decker bus to turn, resurfacing and reinstation of street lighting. Details of works would be secured via a s278 agreement with highway authority.

•         The development is formed of separate buildings which helps to breakup the mass and enables development to feel open rather than defensive. Additionally, the buildings are characterised by horizontal banding and curved corners.

•         The application site lies approximately 250 metres west of the Littlemore Conservation Area at its nearest point and forms part of the heritage assets wider setting. The proposal would be visible but visual harm has been mitigated by varying the colour of the two main buildings and reducing the massing. Although the development would still be visible, it would only be visible from part of the Conservation Area, therefore the impact is limited, and the harm is a low level.

•         In accordance with paragraph 206 of NPPF, the need for high quality lab enabled office space within the part of the golden triangle, provides clear and convincing justification for the heritage harm caused. Furthermore, in line with paragraph 208 of the NPPF, the public benefits of this development include the local economic uplift, a commitment to employ a proportion of local residents, enhancement to the pedestrian, cycle and bus infrastructure, the provision of a school lab, the 10% net gain of biodiversity on site and a 40.9 reduction in carbon emission. The benefits would therefore outweigh the low level of less substantial harms of the setting of the Littlemore Conservation Area.

•         In conclusion, officers considered that the proposed development would respond appropriately to the site context and the local plan policies. It is therefore recommended that the Planning Committee approve the application, subject to section 106 legal agreement and the finalisation of conditions.

Robert Linnell (agent) spoke in favour of the application.

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

On being proposed, seconded and put to the vote the Committee agreed with the officer’s recommendation to approve the application for the reasons listed on the report, the verbal updates on the travel plan and subject to the conditions set out in the report.

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 the report and grant planning permission; and 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 this 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 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 and Regulatory Services considers reasonably necessary; and

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