18/00837/FUL

28 Sandfield Road Oxford Oxfordshire OX3 7RJ

22 April 2018

Erection of 2 x 3-bed semi-detached dwellings (Use Class C3). Provision of private amenity space, car parking and bin and cycle storage.

This proposal squeezes two 3-bedroom dwellings onto a site measuring only about 305m², but the practicality of the solution is questionable. The external amenity areas to each property are minimal, given the potential occupancy of three double bedrooms. The car parking arrangements preclude entry or exit from the vehicle on one side, and the low level planting would preclude movement of bicycles or waste bins past the parked cars. The proposed tree and hedge planting would obscure any view of the road when exiting the parking areas in a car when exiting in a forward direction, and this would necessitate reversing off Woodlands Road into the site. Reversing off the site would be even more unsatisfactory, though this is how the parking provision is represented. Woodlands Road is a well-known alternative route for by-passing congestion at the London Road/Headley Way junction, so carries significant, and often impatient traffic. The car parking provision is not in accordance with current policy, yet it is not suggested by the applicant that this should be a car-free development, despite reasonable proximity to public transport services. We believe that consent to this application should not be granted without very careful consideration of the unsatisfactory arrangements referred to herein.