20/03053/VAR

Second Floor Flat 158 Cowley Road Oxford Oxfordshire OX4 1UE

7 January 2021

Variation of condition 2 (Develop in accordance with approved plans) of planning permission 07/02695/FUL (Change of use of first and second floor from retail (class A1) to restaurant, bar and take-away (classes A3, A4 and A5). Provision of office, rest room, private lounge, meeting room, staff accommodation and roof terrace on second floor. Enclosure of balcony to frontage. Bin and recycle store to rear.) to allow change of use from House in Multiple Occupation (Use Class C4) to a large House in Multiple Occupation (Sui Generis)

OCS have a number of concerns relating to this variation of condition and until they are satisfactorily addressed this request should be refused. The variation is to allow residential use for nine hotel style double bedrooms with ensuite facilities resulting in a hostel style accommodation. The rooms are minimal (14 sq m) if not substandard in size. The communal kitchen\diner which if the accommodation were operating under full capacity would be used by 18 people. At 18 sq m this must be deemed to be too small.  All rooms need to be checked for standards’ compliance. There is a lift but compliance with means of escape and safety standards need to be checked. There is no D&AS, site or block plans, nor proposals for covered, safe cycle storage or bin storage. The lack of ground and first floor plans and drawings showing impact on adjacent properties, size of windows to habitable rooms, materials for external walls and roof and how a safe means of escape from the upper floor accommodation through the building and to a place of safety at ground level can be achieved is a serious omission. The County Council have responded with a request for conditions to be satisfied on cycle parking and means of enclosure. They also requested limitations on parking be made and a charge to the client for meeting the Traffic Regulation Order to ensure the change does not increase parking demand. Some of this information may have been provided in 07/02659 but it would be a useful addition to the current application.