Representations to Local Plan Part 1 Partial Review: Issues Consultation January 2016 Rep No. Representative Question No. Question Comments Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report - Comments Respondent number assigned to in summary PR-A-001 R E Everitt 13 This particularly deals with planning some of the housing that should not be placed in Oxford City is to be placed in Cherwell District. The majority will end in Banbury, Bicester and Kidlington. All three cases it is essential that the accomodation as such does not cause abutting onto nearby villages so losing their village identity. This is already in danger with Banbury and Bodicote. Employment possibilities must be considered to accound for this extra population. This overflow would indicate very serious consideration as to how after 2031 with Oxford City unable to take any more housing, the four districts will cope with any planned expansions. PR-A-002 Godington Parish General & Parish meetings were set up under the 1972 Local Government Act as an organisation to take part in local Meeting SCI government. Where a meeting is in place everybody on the electoral roll is a member. PMs are in fact the most democratic form of local government and should certainly be consulted on relevant matters in a plan. Why are parish meetings not mentioned in the proposed local plan? PMs are often confused with Parish Councils which in fact have quite different legislation. PR-A-003 T Snow 3 Oxford's housing needs are well described. It is hard to exaggerate the effect of high house prices and rents in Oxford. Employers in the public and private sectors find it impossible to recruit and retain the staff they need. I see this in schools in Blackbird Leys. Good staff are desperately wanted but those few who join find they cannot afford to stay. PR-A-003 T Snow 6 Yes, the area should be close to Oxford to try to accommodate the large number of people who work in Oxford but cannot afford to live there. District wide would be an irrelevance. PR-A-003 T Snow 7 Houses should be within the affordable range of those on average incomes. They should be near to public transport links. 'Development gains' must be recaptured to provide infrastructure. PR-A-003 T Snow 9 Yes, Green Belt building should indeed be considered. The Green Belt is a thick tight corset around Oxford and has been one of the principal inhibitors of the natural growth of a dynamic city. Sites have been identified of no great landscape value to allow major construction. It has always been accepted that incursion to the Green Belt would have to be made to deal with housing shortage and traffic congestion and we have both of these in spades. PR-A-003 T Snow 14 Affordability and near transport links as I have said already. Also consider flats - perfectly ok for singles, families with no children and old people who are going to be increasing by numbers. PR-A-004 Strutt & Parker LLP 1 It is considered that the working figure of 3,500 homes is a reasonable assumption at this stage in the process. / Dairystock However, it is recommended that this figure is set as a minimum target for Cherwell District to meet because Limited neighbouring authorities, most notably West Oxfordshire, may not be able to accommodate a similar number of houses due to the environmental constraints within those authorities, such as the proportion of the district that is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Because Cherwell has less areas of ‘protected landscape’ it is considered that it could meet somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 new homes. PR-A-004 Strutt & Parker LLP 2 While it is not considered essential for the additional housing to be supported by additional employment generating / Dairystock development, it is apparent that opportunities exist for the housing growth to be complimented by further Limited employment development within the district. Our client’s site to the north of Kidlington (as shown on the attached location plan) is in close proximity to essential services and facilities and is well linked to the future expansion of Begbroke Science Park set out in Policy Kidlington 1 (Accommodating High Value Employment Needs) of the Council’s adopted Local Plan. The construction of new homes near to jobs and employment would minimise journey lengths and provide a good balance of land uses, as encouraged by paragraph 37 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The site would therefore contribute to the creation of a sustainable, mixed community. The prospect of further expansion at the Science Park will be improved by providing new housing on our client’s land as it will create a larger workforce in the local area. 1 of 194 Representations to Local Plan Part 1 Partial Review: Issues Consultation January 2016 PR-A-004 Strutt & Parker LLP 4 The additional growth in the district should aim to fulfil the three aspects of sustainable development as defined by / Dairystock the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF): economic, environmental and social. By locating development in the Limited most sustainable location – near to existing services, facilities and employment opportunities – will ensure that these three aims are met. Development on our client’s land would result in the release of some Green Belt land to the north of Kidlington and, in turn, would result in some landscape change. However, the logical and sustainable location of this land and the economic and social benefits that would be gained from developing the site would outweigh any environmental harm. In any case, suitable landscaping could be planted along the northern boundary of the site to reinforce the edge of the development and a substantial area of the site could remain undeveloped so that it could be used as recreational/amenity space with the potential of creating a country park for the benefit of the wider Kidlington community. PR-A-004 Strutt & Parker LLP 8 It is considered that the whole district may need to contribute towards meeting Oxford’s unmet housing need, but / Dairystock that due to the scale of the additional housing need (at least 3,000 new homes) it is submitted that strategic Limited allocations will need to be made in order to meet this need. The housing market within Banbury and Bicester will be saturated if a significant number of additional large scale allocations are proposed for these towns. As such, it is considered that allocations should be made in and adjoining the larger villages and, in particular, Kidlington which has the closest relationship with the city. Our client’s land is suitable for a strategic development and is available now. PR-A-004 Strutt & Parker LLP 9 The Oxford Green Belt continues to restrict the ability of new development for the city to be located in the most / Dairystock sustainable and logical location, i.e. closest to the city. It is clearly important to maintain the Green Belt to ensure Limited that urban sprawl is controlled and that coalescence between settlements does not occur. However, a detailed review of the Oxford Green Belt must be undertaken to consider whether the designation is still fit for purpose given the county’s current housing needs. In particular, the potential for new housing to be located within the Green Belt – potentially on the edges of Kidlington – must be properly assessed. The ‘Area for Search’ should therefore include the Green Belt. PR-A-004 Strutt & Parker LLP 15 Site submission - Land North of Kidlington. Sites that can form part of strategic scale sustainable urban extensions / Dairystock should be considered. Oxford’s unmet housing need will only be fully met if sites of a strategic scale are allocated Limited and the most logical way of achieving this is by extending the existing larger settlements that are well related to the city. The site extends to 37 hectares approx with a potential developable site area of around 20 hectares. Such a site area has a capacity for of up to 500 dwellings assuming a density of 25 dwellings per hectare. Potentially a country park on the site. It would be possible to develop the site in conjunction with the land immediately to the south, which has previously been submitted to Cherwell District Council for consideration under site reference KI104 (Land North of The Moors). According to the Council’s most recent SHLAA Update 2014, this adjoining land has been identified as a site outside of an existing settlement with future potential for development. It is submitted that a combination of our client’s land and SHLAA site KI104 provides a logical opportunity for a strategic scale urban extension to the north of Kidlington, which would help meet the significant unmet housing need of Oxford City. Another advantage of development to the north of Kidlington is that it would avoid the coalescence issue that potential extensions south of Kidlington and north of Oxford would create (if approved). Site information provided. PR-A-004 Strutt & Parker LLP 28 Site Submission - Land North of The Moors and East of Banbury Road, Kidlington. We wish to submit a site on behalf / Dairystock of our client. This site has been submitted as part of the current ‘Call for Sites’ consultation and is described as ‘Land Limited north of Kidlington’ (OS Grid Ref. E: 448807 N: 215187). 2 of 194 Representations to Local Plan Part 1 Partial Review: Issues Consultation January 2016 PR-A-004 Strutt & Parker LLP 16 and 17 The existing strategic highway network, particularly the A40, A34 and A44, are functioning at close to capacity, / Dairystock which adversely affects travel times and in turn the economic productivity and success of the county.