®Planning appeal decision
Land at North West Bicester, Charlotte Avenue, Bicester, Oxfordshire , OX27 8AS
described as, ‘outline planning application for up to 530 residential dwellings (within Use Class C3), open space provision, access, drainage and all associated works and operations including but not limited to demolition, ear thworks, and engineering operations, with the details of appearance, landscaping, layout and scale reserved for later determination
- Authority
- Cherwell District Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Barrett R
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Given the viability of the proposed development, whether it would provide appropriate affordable housing to address local need
- Given the viability of the proposed development, whether it would achieve a 'True Zero Carbon' development
- The effect of the proposed access arrangements on the safety and convenience of road users, and whether they would promote active forms of transport, with particular regard to walking and cycling
- Whether the proposal adequately addresses its infrastructure impacts
What decided it
The Council did not defend any of its putative reasons for refusal and the Inspector found the scheme complied with the relevant development plan policies on viability, carbon, highways and infrastructure, with heritage harm outweighed by public benefits.
the less than substantial harm (at the lower end of that spectrum) to heritage assets was outweighed by the public benefits of the scheme, including housing delivery and realisation of the North West Bicester Ecotown strategy, so the appeal was allowed
Framework references: 58, 104, 105, 110, 132, 199, 202, 55, 56
Plan policies cited: Policy BSC3, Policy Bicester 1, Policy ESD2, Policy ESD1-5, Policy ESD15, Policy ESD3, Policy SLE4, Policy INF1
The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.