Town Planner Pro
Free trial
Search appeal decisions

Planning appeal decision

Allowed20 October 20223287556

Pakefield House - Fortescue House , St. Johns Street, Bicester, OX26 6SL

Planning appeal 3287556 at Pakefield House - Fortescue House , St. Johns Street, Bicester, OX26 6SL (Cherwell District Council) was allowed on 20 October 2022 by Inspector Cooper W, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether the proposed development would be appropriately located and designed in respect of flood risk.

redevelopment of the site to form 38 no. retirement living apartments and including communal facilities, access, car parking and landscaping

Authority
Cherwell District Council
Appeal type
major · Planning Appeal
Procedure
Hearing
Development
residential · Major dwellings
Inspector
Cooper W
Postcode
OX26 6SL

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

  • Whether the proposed development would be appropriately located and designed in respect of flood risk
  • Whether the proposed development would adequately provide for biodiversity, with particular regard to river corridor habitat
  • The effect of the proposal on highway safety, with particular regard to the proposed access

What decided it

The tilted balance under paragraph 11 of the Framework was engaged due to the housing land supply shortfall, and the limited flood risk harm did not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the substantial benefits of the scheme.

The substantial combination of housing, socio-economic, sustainability and biodiversity benefits outweighed the limited flood risk harm from a small part of the development lying within Flood Zone 3b, so the presumption in favour of sustainable development tipped the balance in favour of granting permission despite conflict with the development plan.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy ESD 6Policy ESD 10Policy ESD 15
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 11Paragraph 110Paragraph 164Paragraph 167

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

59 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision
An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter
Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.
Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app
Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.
Start your free trial

More decisions in Cherwell District Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2022

  1. Allowed18 June 20266004874
    6 Bowmont Square, Bicester, OX26 2GJ
  2. Allowed26 May 20266004930
    Land In Between Rose View and Gold Hill Cottage, Main Street, Hethe, Hethe, Oxon, OX27 8HD
  3. Allowed26 January 20263374499
    2 Church View, Banbury, Oxon, OX16 9ND
  4. Allowed16 December 20253355576
    Land West of Fringford Road, Caversfield, OX27 8TJ
  5. Dismissed1 October 20253367723
    Land Adjacent 53 and 54 Hambleside, Bicester, OX26 2GB

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.