Agenda item

Refused (final wording for refusal delegated to officers in consultation with the Chairman)

The Committee considered application 12/00926/OUT for the proposed development of up to 75 residential dwellings, landscape, open space, highway improvement and associated works.

Councillor Lynda Thirzie Smart addressed the committee as ward member.

Councillor Jenny Yates, member of Bloxham Parish Council, spoke in opposition to the application.

In considering the application, some Members commented on the sustainability of the proposed development. Members further commented that it did not comply with the emerging Local Plan. The Local Plan sought to ensure that new housing was spread across the district rather than being located in one particular area.  

Members raised concerns regarding flooding and sewage issues that were known to the development site as there had been many problems with flooding on the site in recent years.

Some Members also raised concerns regarding the levels of primary school places as schools within the Bloxham area were at full capacity.

In reaching their decision, the committee considered the officers report, presentation, written update and presentations of the public speakers.

Resolved

That application 12/00926/OUT be refused for the following reasons:

(1)               The proposal represents development beyond the built up limits of Bloxham within open countryside contrary to Policies H12, H13 and H18 of the adopted Cherwell Local Plan and Policies H15 and H19 of the Non-Statutory Cherwell Local Plan and Policy SP3 of the South East Plan. It is considered that the development of this site will cause harm to the character and appearance of the countryside on the southern edge of Bloxham contrary to Policy C7 of the adopted Cherwell Local Plan and Policy EN34 of the Non-Statutory Cherwell Local Plan and Policy ESD 13 of the Cherwell Local Plan Proposed Submission Draft August 2012 and Policy CC6 of the South East Plan and to the core principles of the NPPF. Notwithstanding the Council's present inability to demonstrate that it has a five year supply of housing land required by paragraph 47 of the NPPF, the development of this site cannot be justified on the basis of the temporary land supply deficiency alone and that significant harm will result.

(2)               Having regard to the level of new development recently accommodated in Bloxham, the fact the site is not identified for development by existing or emerging Policy, and is not supported by the local community, the proposal is considered to go beyond that which would reasonably be expected to be accommodated in the village during the proposed Cherwell Local Plan period.

In the particular context of housing delivery at Bloxham and South East Plan Policy BE5 requirements (including that local planning authorities should encourage community-led local assessments of need and action planning to inform decision making processes in rural communities), it is considered the proposed development would adversely affect further consideration of how to sustainably meet rural needs through the production of Development Plan Documents and a Neighbourhood Development Plan (especially when the local community has indicated its intention to prepare a Neighbourhood Development Plan). As such the proposed development is contrary to Policy Villages 2 of the Cherwell Local Plan Proposed Submission draft August 2012 and to the core principles of the National Planning Policy Framework set out at paragraph 17 and in particular the requirement that decisions should be genuinely plan-led; empowering local people to shape their surroundings, with succinct local and neighbourhood plans setting out a positive vision for the future of the area.

(3)               In the absence of a satisfactory planning obligation the Local Planning Authority cannot guarantee that the infrastructure directly required to service or serve the proposed development will be provided, thus adding to the pressures on local infrastructure and services resulting in an unsustainable form of development, contrary to Policy CC7 of the South East Plan, Policies H5, TR1 and R12 of the adopted Cherwell Local Plan and Policies H7, TR4, R8, R9 and R10A of the Non-Statutory Cherwell Local Plan 2011.