17/01480/FUL

4 Lime Walk Oxford OX3 7AE

23 July 2017

Demolition of former MOT facility (Use Class B2). Erection of three storey building to create 3 x 1-bed flats and 2 x 2-bed flats (Use Class C3) . Erection of a single storey building to create 1 x 2-bed flat (Use Class C3). Provision of private amenity space, bin and cycle storage, alterations to landscaping and formation of 1no. disabled parking space.

In principle this replacement of a disused site by new additional domestic housing is welcome. However, OCS are dubious about the assertion by the applicant that, despite being in an Amber zone and therefore being expected to provide some proportion of family housing, the site is “not suitable for family housing”. We recommend that this issue receives serious consideration before the grant of planning permission. The proposal is designed in a starkly “contemporary “style which may not be inappropriate in this particular context. In two other respects this application gives some cause for concern: first, the absence of any commitment to renewable energy, and second, the absence of any commitment to the possible arrangements for the management and maintenance of the communal garden.

These issues, too, should be resolved before the grant of planning permission.