South Oxfordshire District Council by Email
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County Hall New Road Oxford OX1 1ND South Oxfordshire District Council Director for Planning and Place By email: [email protected] – Susan Halliwell 26 January 2018 Copy: [email protected] Dear Sir/Madam Watlington – Submission Neighbourhood Plan Comments to be forwarded to independent Examiner Please find attached the County’s comments on the submitted Watlington Neighbourhood Plan. We do not request a public examination on this neighbourhood plan, but if there is one, we request that we attend. We request that we are kept informed of any decisions. Watlington is one of the larger villages in South Oxfordshire. The South Oxfordshire Proposed Submission Local Plan calculates that there is a need to allocate land for approximately 260 houses in Watlington on the basis of achieving a target of 15% growth between 2011 and 2033 as follows (taken from p66 of Proposed Submission Local Plan): Larger village Core Strategy Completions & Outstanding Target for + 15% growth Commitments NDP Watlington 262 28 234 260 The Plan proposes to allocate land for at least 238 houses as follows: 1. A – Land between Britwell Road and Cuxham Road – 140 2. B – Land off Cuxham Road and Willow Close – 38-60 3. C – Land off Pyrton Lane – 60 The above sites are along the alignment of a proposed new ‘edge road’. In respect of the above, a planning application has been lodged on A - P17/S3231/O – for 183 dwellings and 650m2 of business class B1a (this is hybrid application with full permission sought for the dwellings). The County Council lodged a transport objection to that application on 1 December 2017. There has also been a planning application in respect of land to the east in Pyrton Parish P16/S2576/O, for 100 residential dwellings, to which the County Council lodged an objection in October 2016. The sites and the alignment of the new edge road are shown on the map below (taken from the Submitted Neighbourhood Plan): The Proposed Submission Local Plan Second Preferred Options also contains a proposal to safeguard land for a Watlington Bypass shown on the map below (page 227 of Proposed Submission Local Plan). Yours sincerely L Hughes Lynette Hughes Senior Planning Officer Email: [email protected] 2 ATTACHMENT – COMMENTS FROM OXFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL WATLINGTON SUBMITTED NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN – JANUARY 2018 Education Land to Expand the Primary School and Secondary School Amend Policy P8 (Physical and Social Infrastructure) along the following lines: Development will be encouraged which contributes to: … (c) The provision of land to safeguard for possible future expansion of the primary and/or secondary schools (d) The provision of new and/or expanded facilities for early education and childcare. … Amend Watlington Housing Policy: Site C along the following lines: … The Planning Proposals prepared for this site should demonstrate how the proposed development: … Provides land to be safeguarded for future expansion of the schools if this is not available elsewhere Is able to proceed following a resolution of issues concerning the potential need for expanding the primary school and/or secondary school onto this site …. Summary 1. The 238 new homes proposed for Watlington in this Plan would be expected to generate in the region of 12 children qualifying for free nursery education (under current statutory entitlement), 60 primary pupils and 45 secondary pupils, assuming a housing mix in line with the existing SODC Core Strategy policies. 2. The Plan recognises that land may be needed for school expansion due to uncertainties about population growth in Watlington and the wider area. 3. Policy P8 (page 39) encourages development which contributes to (c) the provision of land to safeguard for possible future expansion of the primary and/or secondary schools and (d) the provision of new and/or expanded facilities for early education and childcare. This is welcomed. A suggestion is made to delete the reference to safeguarding in this policy and the site policy as reference to ‘safeguarding’ appears redundant and potentially confusing. 4. To provide for both an expansion of the primary school and the secondary school, all of Site C (an area of 4.6ha) might be required. This is because the primary school 3 would need to expand by 0.4ha and the secondary school would need to expand by up to 4.4ha. 5. The primary school’s current site, while sufficient for its current size of 1.5 form entry, would need to be extended if the school needs to expand to 2 form entry. The future size and location of Icknield Community College cannot be confirmed until a decision is reached on the Chalgrove Airfield development, but, should the school need to expand additional site area would be required. In addition to primary and secondary school capacity, additional early education and child care provision will also be required to meet the extra demand created by the development proposed in this Plan. In these circumstances, it must be a requirement that land to expand the schools is provided at Site C unless some alternative arrangement is agreed. Detailed comments Primary School 6. Watlington Primary School is a 1.5 form entry school, admitting up to 45 children per year and with a total capacity of 315 places (excluding the nursery). As of September 2017 the school has 257 children on roll, with spaces in nearly all year groups (although numbers fluctuate and some year groups have only few spare places) i.e. 58 spare places in total. At this moment, it therefore has close to sufficient capacity to meet the expected needs of the proposed scale of development. However, inevitably, there is uncertainty over future birth rates and housing development, and protecting the ability of the school to expand is a sensible precaution. 7. Expansion of the school to 2 forms of entry (60 children per year, total capacity of 420 places) would offer benefits to school financial and organisational management. However, to sustain pupil numbers at 2 form entry level, more housing growth than that currently proposed would be necessary. 8. The school’s current site area of approximately 1.8ha is below the county council’s standards for a 2 form entry school, but the site adjoins that of Icknield Community College, and also the proposed development referred to in the Plan as site C. The Housing Policy regarding site C (page 51) requires that the development “provides land to be safeguarded for the future expansion of the schools if this is not available elsewhere”. It would need to be the county council which determines whether such expansion land is required, at the time that any planning application is submitted. Secondary School 9. Icknield Community College is a 5 form entry 11-16 school, admitting up to 140 children per year and with a total capacity of 700 places. As of September 2017 the school has 664 children on roll, and is experiencing rapid growth in pupil numbers. 10. It currently, therefore, has only 36 spare places, less than the expected pupil generation from the proposed scale of housing growth within the Watlington Neighbourhood Plan. However, this number of spare places is expected to fall over the coming years, and based on recent trends the school would be expected to quickly fill. Moreover, the school serves a large designated (catchment) area, shown below, and will also be affected by the significant scale of development underway and 4 proposed at neighbouring settlements such as Benson and Chinnor. The school does not have sufficient current capacity to meet the cumulative needs of development within its designated area. 11. It is therefore necessary to ensure the ability of Icknield Community College to expand in future years is protected through this Plan. The Housing Policy regarding site C (page 51) therefore requires that the development “provides land to be safeguarded for the future expansion of the schools if this is not available elsewhere”. It would need to be the county council which determines whether such expansion land is required, at the time that any planning application is submitted. 12. The future size of Icknield Community College needs to be considered in the context of the large-scale growth proposed in the recent SODC Local Plan consultation for Chalgrove Airfield, which lies within the school’s designated area. Approximately 3,000 homes are being considered here. 13. The proposed Chalgrove Airfield development, in isolation, would not make a new secondary school sustainable without threatening the viability of Icknield Community College. 14. The combined impact of all the currently proposed scale of growth, in addition to the existing population, within Icknield’s designated area would be expected to require a secondary school of around 1500 places. The county council’s requirement, based on government guidelines, would be a site of 10.6ha for a 1500-place school. 15. Icknield Community College’s current site area is approximately 6.2ha. Based on government guidelines, this is sufficient for 800-1000 pupils, i.e. 200-400 more than the current roll, and could therefore support some expansion of the school. This would not, however, be sufficient to meet the needs of the proposed Chalgrove Airfield as well as the permitted/planned/proposed growth within Icknield’s designated area. (It would be expected to be sufficient excluding Chalgrove Airfield.) 16. If the proposed Chalgrove Airfield allocation is approved, a strategic solution will be necessary to provide secondary education across the area. This will require a larger site area being made available to Icknield Community College. To bring the current site area up to the standard requirement for a 1500 place school would require an additional 4.4ha being added to the current site.