There has been one application for a new premises licence in our ward this week. It is for William Osler House, off Osler Road.

The application is for :

Plays and Films: 11.00 hours to 23.30 hours (Sunday to Saturday)

Indoor sporting events: 08.00 hours to 23.30 hours (Sunday to Thursday); 08.00 hours to 00.30 hours (Friday and Saturday)

Live music:11.00 hours to midnight (Sunday to Thursday); 11.00 hours to 01.00 hours (Friday and Saturdays

Recorded music / Performances of dance:11.00 hours to midnight (Sunday to Thursday): 11.00 hours to 01.30 hours (Friday and Saturday)

Late night refreshment: 23.00 hours to 05.00 hours (Friday and Saturday)

Sale of Alcohol: 11.00 hours to 23.30 hours (Sunday to Thursday); 11.00 hours to 00.30 hours (Friday and Saturday).

The application reference number is: 12/04123/PREM

DEADLINE FOR REPRESENTATIONS TO BE RECEIVED (All representations must be made in writing): 14/01/13

ADDRESS FOR REPRESENTATIONS TO BE SENT:

or by email to: licensing@oxford.gov.uk

We have just received the plans for the annual rollout of telecomms masts. We know that the sitings of these masts can be contentious. Here is a quick list  of those applications that are proposed for next year, and those that have been granted permission for this year. We have the map grid references for all of these sites, so if you would like more details please get in touch. We also have contact details for all the operators and can raise your questions with them directly on your behalf.

The PROPOSED sites are:

Banbury Road / Park Town junction (O2 & Vodafone)

Queens College (O2 & Vodafone)

Churchill Hospital Ambulance Depot (O2 & Vodafone)

Jack Straw’s Lane (in vicinity of Doris Field Close) (O2 & Vodafone)

Land adjacent to Eastern Bypass (Vodafone – planning already granted for an O2 site)

The PLANNING PERMISSION GRANTED sites are:

George Street (O2)

Elsfield Way (O2 & Vodafone)

Kassam Stadium area (Holiday Express Inn) (O2 & Vodafone)

Land adjacent to Eastern Bypass (O2)

We have also been sent a document from the Mobile Operators Association entitled THE BENEFITS OF MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

If you would like a copy, please let us know

Just the one extension of time limits for a permission at the Black Boy this week.  You can view more details by clicking on the Latest Planning Decisions button on the top tool bar.

As part of the ongoing saga concerning this property, you may remember that the owner put in an application to demolish his property and to build a terrace of five new town houses. When it was refused by officers, the owner appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, as is his legal right. That appeal was held yesterday and David attended to represent local concerns. Here is a brief report:

At the appeal, Council officers put up a strong defence of their refusal. The owner argued that as the courts had declared 29 Old High Street to be ‘an eyesore’ then it was best demolished. I pointed out that the very fact that the courts had required improvements to be made suggested that they thought the property was not a lost cause but was worth improving and restoring to its previous state. A property that has been left to neglect is not one that loses its right to exist.

The merits of the proposed development within the Conservation Area were discussed. I made it clear that opposition to this application did not necessarily equate to opposition to any development on the site. The problem with the application was that it would transform the nature of the site in a way which would not protect or enhance the Conservation Area. The owner suggested the boundaries of the Conservation Area should not include his property.

There was also debate about details of the application. It included a garage for each of the properties that were insufficient for modern cars. The owner accepted this and suggested that, instead, the development could be car-free but that, of course, was not the application submitted. He also suggested that the standards for cycle parking were unnecessary for this site as buses were frequent and preferable to cycling in the rain. The application also provided gardens for each property which were less than half the minimum expected by the City Council as set out in the Local Plan. The owner suggested it was not fair to expect those minimum standards to apply to his property.

At several points, the owner made it clear that the 2011 application, for which the drawings were made 18 years ago, had been submitted in response to a separate move by Oxford City Council to require remedial work to be done on the property to halt its delapidation. That remedial work which a court order has enforced is still pending.

At the hearing, the Council asked the Inspector to consider awarding costs against the appellant on the basis that the owner had not provided a robust argument for why the application should not have been refused and so the appeal had been a waste of taxpayers’ money. The owner commented that the Council’s request for costs was ‘vindictive’.

It is usual in these situations for the Inspector’s report to be issued in about eight weeks.

CIL is short for Community Infrastructure Levy. The Community Infrastructure Levy is a new charge on development, which in Oxford, will be set by the City Council to help the funding of infrastructure. The levy will allow the City Council to raise, and pool contributions from developers to pay for transport, leisure and open spaces, district heating systems, schools and other infrastructure needed to support new development.

So YES! It is important for all of us!  CIL is expected to have a positive economic effect on development in the medium to long term.

For more information on CIL, and to see the draft preliminary charging schedule,  click here

A comments form can be completed online by going to www.oxford.gov.uk/consultation, and clicking on the Community Infrastructure Levy – Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule.

It would be good to see some of this money being distributed to local communities….

One application has been granted permission on a property in Woodlands Close this week. Please click on top bar for more information

An appeal decision has been published by the Planning Inspectorate on land to the rear of 42 Windmill Road, and reads as follows:

The appeal is allowed and planning permission is granted for a single storey dwelling at land to the rear of 42 Windmill Road, Headington, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX3 7BX in accordance with the terms of the application Ref 11/02147/FUL, dated 16 May 2011, subject to the conditions in the schedule included at the end of this decision.

Schedule of Conditions

1. The development hereby permitted shall begin not later than three years from the date of this decision.

2. The development hereby permitted shall be carried out in accordance with the following approved plans: Drawing No. S1.02 existing block plan, P1.01 location plan, P1.02 proposed block plan, P2.01 proposed plans and elevations, P2.03 proposed bin store, P2.04 proposed cycle store

3. Samples of the exterior materials to be used shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority before the start of work on site and only the approved materials shall be used.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2008 (or any other Order revoking or enacting that Order) no structure, including additions to the dwelling house as defined in Classes A, B, C, D and E of Schedule 2, Part 1 of the Order shall be erected or undertaken without the prior written consent of the local planning authority.

5. The refuse bin and cycle storage facilities as shown on drawing No.P2.01 shall be provided prior to the first occupation of the dwelling hereby permitted and shall thereafter be retained.

6. Before the development hereby permitted begins, arrangements shall be agreed in writing with the local planning authority, and be put in place, to ensure that, with the exception of disabled persons, no resident of the development shall obtain a resident’s parking permit within the controlled parking zone which is in force in the area including the development hereby approved, at any time. Development shall be carried out in accordance with the approved details.

Many residents are disappointed by this decision, and it is one that has surprised the ward councillors.