The Head of City Development has submitted a report which details a planning application for the demolition of existing houses at 3 to 9 Elsfield Way. Erection of 4 x 1-bed and 18 x 2-bed flats to frontage with 6 x 4-bed houses to rear. Provision of 40 car parking spaces, amenity space together with bin and cycle stores. New vehicular access and slip roads from Elsfield Way (A40). (Amended plans) (Amended description)

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

(1)          The development proposed would result in a significant intensification of a substandard vehicular access onto a high speed dual carriageway that would result in a substantial increase in difficult and dangerous manoeuvres into and out of the site to the detriment of the safety of users of the highway and the free flow of the highway network, contrary to the requirements of policy CP1 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 as well as guidance set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

 (2)      The proposals would involve alterations to the public highway to include vehicular entry and exit slipways to the site. These alterations would adversely affect the future operation and deliverability of a fully committed and funded scheme by the Local Highway Authority to carry out major alterations to the Cutteslowe Roundabout to improve traffic flows and congestion on the A40. Consequently the proposals would have unacceptable impacts on wider traffic generation and vehicular movements through the city contrary to the requirements of policy CP1 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 as well as guidance set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

 (3)      The development fails to provide on-site provision of affordable housing without robust justification for a number of assumptions, costs and land values included within the submitted viability appraisal justifying this approach, and as such the proposals fail to make the necessary contribution towards affordable housing in the City to the detriment of the mix and balance of the local community contrary to the requirements of policy HP3 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026 as well as policy CS24 of the Oxford Core Strategy 2026 and guidance contained within the National Planning Policy Framework.

 (4)      The development fails to provide an adequate mix of dwellings on the site to meet the identified future housing needs of the community of Oxford contrary to the requirements of policy CS23 of the Oxford Core Strategy 2026 and guidance set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

 (5)      The proposed development represents a significant and unacceptable overdevelopment of the site which fails to respect the layout, density, greenery and open space provision that characterises its suburban residential context. As a result the proposals fail to accord with the requirements of policies CP1, CP6, CP8, CP9, CP10 and CP11 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016, policy CS18 of the Oxford Core Strategy 2026 as well as policies HP9 and HP10 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026.

 (6)      The outdoor amenity spaces proposed to serve the proposed dwellings are considered to be unacceptable in quality and quantity to the detriment of the quality of living of future occupiers of the dwellings contrary to the requirements of policy CP10 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 as well as policies HP13 and HP14 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026.

 (7)      Having regard to its close proximity to the road in combination with its significant overall mass, height and bulk, the building proposed at the front of the site would be obtrusively large and prominent within the streetscene and therefore out of character with its more spacious suburban setting evident in the relationship between the majority of existing surrounding buildings and the road frontage. As a consequence the development would fail to successfully integrate within its context which would be exacerbated by its highly prominent location, contrary to the requirements of policies CP1 and CP8 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016, policy CS18 of the Oxford Core Strategy 2026 as well as policy HP9 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026.

 (8)      The development involves the creation of a new access road outside a controlled parking zone. As a result of the lack of unallocated parking spaces to serve future residents and their visitors, the site would be likely to be subject to significant internal parking congestion adversely affecting vehicle manoeuvring within the site as well as the amenity enjoyed by future occupiers of the dwellings. Parking congestion within the site would also be likely to give rise to pressure for overspill parking. As a consequence the proposals fail to accord with the requirements of policy CP1 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 as well as policy HP16 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026.

 (9)      The development proposes the loss of a substantial number of existing trees on the site. The excessively close proximity of the proposed front building to the site frontage prevents meaningful compensatory soft landscaping and precludes the planting of trees without creating a poor spatial relationship with the south elevation of the building. As a result the development fails to adequately mitigate lost trees and soft landscape features on the site and does not provide an appropriate balance between the natural and built environment to the detriment of the character and appearance of the area and the streetscene, contrary to the requirements of policies CP1, CP11, NE15 and NE16 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016.

 (10)    The development proposes dwellings within close proximity of the A40 with the result that future occupiers of the development would experience significant noise disturbance and, in the absence of any form of noise assessment, the local planning authority cannot conclude that the living conditions of future occupiers would be of an acceptable standard. Consequently the proposals fail to accord with the requirements of policies CP1 and CP21 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 in this respect.

The Head of City Development submitted a report (previously circulated now appended) which detailed a planning application for the demolition of existing houses at 3 to 9 Elsfield Way.  Erection of 4x1 bed and 18x2 bed flats to frontage with 6x4 bed houses to rear.  Provision of 40 car parking spaces, amenity space together with bin and cycle stores.  New vehicular access and slips road from Elsfield Way (A40).  (Amended plans) (Amended description).

In accordance with the criteria for public speaking, the Committee noted that no one spoke against the application and no one spoke in favour of it.

The Committee agreed not to grant planning permission for the following reasons:

(1)          The development proposed would result in a significant intensification of a substandard vehicular access onto a high speed dual carriageway that would result in a substantial increase in difficult and dangerous manoeuvres into and out of the site to the detriment of the safety of users of the highway and the free flow of the highway network, contrary to the requirements of policy CP1 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 as well as guidance set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

(2)       The proposals would involve alterations to the public highway to include vehicular entry and exit slipways to the site. These alterations would adversely affect the future operation and deliverability of a fully committed and funded scheme by the Local Highway Authority to carry out major alterations to the Cutteslowe Roundabout to improve traffic flows and congestion on the A40. Consequently the proposals would have unacceptable impacts on wider traffic generation and vehicular movements through the city contrary to the requirements of policy CP1 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 as well as guidance set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

(3)       The development fails to provide on-site provision of affordable housing without robust justification for a number of assumptions, costs and land values included within the submitted viability appraisal justifying this approach, and as such the proposals fail to make the necessary contribution towards affordable housing in the City to the detriment of the mix and balance of the local community contrary to the requirements of policy HP3 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026 as well as policy CS24 of the Oxford Core Strategy 2026 and guidance contained within the National Planning Policy Framework.

(4)       The development fails to provide an adequate mix of dwellings on the site to meet the identified future housing needs of the community of Oxford contrary to the requirements of policy CS23 of the Oxford Core Strategy 2026 and guidance set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.

(5)       The proposed development represents a significant and unacceptable overdevelopment of the site which fails to respect the layout, density, greenery and open space provision that characterises its suburban residential context. As a result the proposals fail to accord with the requirements of policies CP1, CP6, CP8, CP9, CP10 and CP11 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016, policy CS18 of the Oxford Core Strategy 2026 as well as policies HP9 and HP10 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026.

(6)       The outdoor amenity spaces proposed to serve the proposed dwellings are considered to be unacceptable in quality and quantity to the detriment of the quality of living of future occupiers of the dwellings contrary to the requirements of policy CP10 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 as well as policies HP13 and HP14 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026.

(7)       Having regard to its close proximity to the road in combination with its significant overall mass, height and bulk, the building proposed at the front of the site would be obtrusively large and prominent within the streetscene and therefore out of character with its more spacious suburban setting evident in the relationship between the majority of existing surrounding buildings and the road frontage. As a consequence the development would fail to successfully integrate within its context which would be exacerbated by its highly prominent location, contrary to the requirements of policies CP1 and CP8 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016, policy CS18 of the Oxford Core Strategy 2026 as well as policy HP9 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026.

(8)       The development involves the creation of a new access road outside a controlled parking zone. As a result of the lack of unallocated parking spaces to serve future residents and their visitors, the site would be likely to be subject to significant internal parking congestion adversely affecting vehicle manoeuvring within the site as well as the amenity enjoyed by future occupiers of the dwellings. Parking congestion within the site would also be likely to give rise to pressure for overspill parking. As a consequence the proposals fail to accord with the requirements of policy CP1 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 as well as policy HP16 of the Sites and Housing Plan 2011-2026.

(9)       The development proposes the loss of a substantial number of existing trees on the site. The excessively close proximity of the proposed front building to the site frontage prevents meaningful compensatory soft landscaping and precludes the planting of trees without creating a poor spatial relationship with the south elevation of the building. As a result the development fails to adequately mitigate lost trees and soft landscape features on the site and does not provide an appropriate balance between the natural and built environment to the detriment of the character and appearance of the area and the streetscene, contrary to the requirements of policies CP1, CP11, NE15 and NE16 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016.

(10)     The development proposes dwellings within close proximity of the A40 with the result that future occupiers of the development would experience significant noise disturbance and, in the absence of any form of noise assessment, the local planning authority cannot conclude that the living conditions of future occupiers would be of an acceptable standard. Consequently the proposals fail to accord with the requirements of policies CP1 and CP21 of the Oxford Local Plan 2001-2016 in this respect.