Issue - meetings

Refused against officer recommendation. Reasons to be set out in the minutes.

The Committee considered application 23/03366/OUT, an outline planning application for up to 114 dwellings and associated open space with all matters reserved other than access at Land Opposite Hanwell Fields Recreation, Adjacent to Dukes Meadow Drive, Banbury for Manor Oak Homes

Hazel Skwirzynska, local resident addressed the Committee in objection to the application.

Geoff Armstrong, agent for the applicant, addressed the Committee in support of the application.

In reaching its decision the Committee considered the officer’s report and presentation, the addresses of the public speakers and the written updates.

Contrary to the officer’s recommendation, it was proposed by Councillor Brant and seconded by Councillor Chapman that application 23/03366/OUT be refused, for the reasons (with exact wording delegated to officers) that the land was not allocated in the current or emerging Cherwell Local Plan, there was a lack of infrastructure to support the development and that the development would have a harmful visual impact so would be contrary to policies BSC1, ESD 13 and INF1 of the Cherwell Local Plan 2011-2031 Part 1, Policies H18, C8, C28, C15 of the Cherwell Local Plan 1996 and Government guidance contained within the National Planning Policy Framework.

Resolved

That, contrary to the officer’s recommendation, application 23/03366/OUT be refused for the following reasons:

1. Cherwell District Council is able to demonstrate a 5-year housing land supply meaning that the relevant development plan policies are up to date. The application site is located within open countryside and is not allocated for development. The proposed development by virtue of its visually prominent position, is such that it would breach Banbury’s contained environmental setting, giving rise to a risk of coalescence between Banbury and Hanwell, causing undue visual intrusion into the open countryside, fundamentally changing the undeveloped characteristic of this parcel of open arable land, creating a prominent urban built form, inconsistent with the local character, to the detriment of the rural landscape. As such, the proposed development would be contrary to Policies BSC1 and ESD13 of the Cherwell Local Plan 2011-2031 Part 1, saved Policies H18, C8, C15 and C28 of the Cherwell Local Plan 1996 and Government guidance within the National Planning Policy Framework.

2. In the absence of a satisfactory unilateral undertaking or any other form of Section 106 legal agreement, the Local Planning Authority is not satisfied that the proposed development provides for appropriate infrastructure contributions required as a direct consequence of the development, and necessary to make the impacts of development acceptable in planning terms. As such, the proposal is contrary to Policy INF1 of the Cherwell Local Plan 2011-2031, Cherwell District Council’s Developer Contributions SPD 2018 and Government guidance within the National Planning Policy Framework.