Site address: Blackbird Leys Community Centre, Blackbird Leys Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire

Proposal: Reserved matters application for the provision of a community centre and public open space surrounding the community centre and block A. (Revised plans and additional information)

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.

2.    Agree to delegate authority to the Director of Planning and Regulation 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.

The Committee considered an application for reserved matters application for the provision of a community centre and public open space surrounding the community centre and block A. (Revised plans and additional information)

The Planning Officer gave a presentation outlining the details of the location and the proposal. This included site photos and existing and proposed elevations and plans:

• The application sought planning permission for the provision of a community centre and public open space surrounding the community centre in the Blackbird Leys District Centre.
• Prior to the submitting the planning application, the applicant requested pre-application advice from the Local Planning Authority to discuss the scheme for the new community centre and surrounding public realm. Advice was provided by planning officers and council’s internal urban design officers. Meetings were also held with the Thames Valley Police Designing Out Crime Officer. In addition, the applicants engaged with the local community and relevant stakeholders to help inform the design of the community centre and public realm. A statement of community involvement was submitted, outlining the evolution of the scheme’s design and the engagement process undertaken.
• The Planning Officer provided a verbal update to the Planning Committee, stating that the wording of condition 20 in the officer report, relating to the use of the community centre, should have explicitly stated the operating hours of 7am to 11pm.
• The proposals were assessed as resulting in less than substantial harm to the setting of the Grade II listed Holy Family Church. However, officers considered that the substantial public benefits of the scheme outweighed and justified the identified harm. The proposals were considered acceptable in terms of their impact on neighbouring occupiers and would not raise any detrimental highway safety concerns.
• The scheme was not expected to give rise to any adverse impacts related to health, wellbeing and safety, drainage, biodiversity or existing trees. It would deliver a high-quality landscaped area with play spaces, as well as a highly sustainable building in terms of its design and construction. Additionally, the scheme was not expected to result in any concerns relating to land quality or archaeology.
• Subject to recommended conditions and informative, the proposals were considered to comply with the relevant policies of the Oxford Local Plan and the NPPF.

Elena Brodetsky, Karoline Soisalo de Mendonca and Rebecca Bacon spoke in favour of the application.

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

• Questions were raised regarding how to prevent parking around the footpath and bollards. The Development Manager responded that the design of the space clearly indicated pedestrian areas, with parking bays located along the bottom of the landscaping plan. He noted that the road layout design would need to address this issue and that ad hoc parking near two closely located zebra crossings was unlikely to occur.
• The Committee requested the addition of more bollards around the site. The Development Manager acknowledged the request and stated it would be taken away to assess whether it could be incorporated. 

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 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 this report and grant planning permission.

2. Agree to delegate authority to the Director of Planning and Regulation 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.