1 Summary 1. the University of Oxford Has Submitted an Outline Planning

Home , Old Road Campus

Outline planning application of 48,000sqm of class D1 research floorspace and ancillary facilities on 2 to 5 storeys over 5 building plots as an extension to University of Oxford Old Road Campus additional 139 parking spaces. University of Oxford Old Road Campus, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7DQ

Consultation response from Oxfordshire County Council

Summary

1. The University of Oxford has submitted an outline planning application for expansion of its Old Road Campus in Headington onto the Park Hospital site.

2. The Development of this site lies adjacent to the existing Old Road Campus. The University of Oxford proposes to combine the development at Old Road Campus and Park Hospital and provide a framework which would guide development in the future for the science and health related teaching and research facilities on the site. Planning permission was granted for the NDM and Kennedy buildings on the Old Road site in Autumn 2011. Please see site plan in Annex 1.

3. As part of the planning application, a master plan has been drawn up to integrate the buildings currently under construction (NDM/Kennedy) into the development of the whole site this application would provide an additional 48,000sqm of class D1 research floor space.

Proposed development

4. All buildings on the Park Hospital site will be demolished and some of those on the Old Road Campus. The aim is to deliver increased capacity for medical research.

5. The integrated site would involve the construction of 5 new buildings and the demolition of 3. This equates to 36,690 sqm of new build and 3,240sqm of demolition. There will be 2850 staff on the whole of the Old Road campus as a result of the development compared with 1733 staff once the NDM and Kennedy buildings are complete in 2013. This represents a 1117 increase. The estimate of staff on campus at any one time is 90% i.e. 1005.

6. It is proposed to have a single point of access to the campus on Roosevelt Drive. The two Park Hospital access points will be closed off and the existing access on Old Road will be retained but only for taxi drop-off.

7. Parking will be provided mainly in a new multi-storey car park off the access on Roosevelt Drive and this will also incorporate a centralized goods delivery area. The total number of car parking spaces on the campus would increase to 459 which is an increase of 148 as part of the application. This is 1 additional space per 7 new members of staff which is compliant with Oxford City and Oxfordshire County Council parking policy.

Economic development

8. The application proposes high end medical teaching and research jobs which is in accordance with Oxford’s Economic Strategy and supported by the Local Enterprise Partnership.

9. By adding to an already strong presence of academic medical research in the Headington area, this development of over 1117 jobs has the potential to help secure this important part of Oxford’s economy for the next 20 years. This particular site offers the opportunity to develop the ‘bench to bedside’ industry, (research in the lab to trials on patients), which could see further investment in the city’s economy making it able to compete successfully with other centres across the UK and internationally. As such the county council welcomes the university’s desire to develop the Park Hospital site.

Transport infrastructure requirements

10. The transport assessment (TA) for the application assumes controlled parking zones (CPZs) will be in place in the surrounding areas (Lye Valley and Wood Farm) when the site is developed and pre-application discussions have resulted in the university committing to funding this essential scheme by means of a S106 agreement in order to minimize additional car travel into the area.

11. Without the CPZ (and any other new transport infrastructure) the development would have resulted in an additional 83 car trips arriving in the area because of the development in the morning peak (total of 261) and 79 car trips leaving the area because of the development in the evening peak (a total of 247). A number of these trips would have been as a result of people driving to park on nearby residential streets.

12. The county council recognises the existing pressures on the local transport network and the concern that local people continue to express about the impact traffic has on local residents’ quality of life. The county council has worked with the University to minimize the impact of the possible additional trips as a result of the proposed development to an acceptable level through negotiating the provision of infrastructure measures (over and above the funding for new CPZs) to provide attractive alternatives to travel by car into the area.

13. Annex 2 sets out the categories and scale of infrastructure measures that the county council believes are essential to make this development acceptable in transport terms. In addition to the CPZs improvements will be needed to Park & Ride parking provision, bus services and cycling and walking facilities. These measures would be secured by means of the S106 agreement. The agreement would set out the trigger points for the payment of S106 funding that corresponds to occupation of buildings as they come forward.

14. A site specific travel plan would be developed to ensure Old Road Campus staff be encouraged to use sustainable modes of travel as much as possible.

Drainage

15. Outline drainage proposals for the site set out in the Flood Risk Assessment are acceptable although further detail would need to be submitted as any proposals for

development on the site come forward – in the interest of localised flood prevention and water quality management.

Ecology

16. The Environmental Impact Assessment should demonstrate how infiltration would be maximised, to minimise the impact on the reedbeds in the Lye Valley SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), SLINC (Site for Local Interest in Nature Conservation) and proposed Local Wildlife Site.

County Council local member responses

17. Member responses set out in Annex 3

Recommendation

18. It is recommended that Oxfordshire County Council informs Oxford City council that, in principle, it SUPPORTS these proposals contained in application no. 12/02072/OUT subject to the signing of a satisfactorily worded S106 agreement as set out above and in Annex 2, to secure contributions towards transport infrastructure.

December 2012