21/01217/FUL COMM

Land To The West Of Mill Lane Marston Oxford OX3 0QA

4 June 2021

Erection of 80 residential dwellings (use class C3) formed of 13 one-bedroom apartments and 28 two-, 35 three- and 4 four-bedroom houses with associated public open space, access and landscaping. 

Whilst appreciative of the comprehensive presentation of this application, we have concerns that the most critical issue is that of traffic generation and we consider that the conclusions of the Transport Assessment lack credibility, not least because it appears to be out of date in its references to the now-expired previous Local Plan. OCS have campaigned for many years (since the drafting of the Barton Area Action Plan) for the need to transform the character of the A40 to a speed-restricted ‘urban boulevard’ in order to achieve acceptable environmental conditions and connectivity for the emerging new developments alongside. Such a solution was shown to have negligible effects on traffic conditions. We consider that the new housing proposed at the two sites at Marston justifies serious reconsideration of this solution, with connections to the A40, in order to alleviate unacceptable degradation of conditions on Mill Lane and in Old Marston, and we would urge renewed negotiation with the Highway Authority in this regard, following recent changes in leadership.