PLANNING MATTERS 8th March 2023
Keeping Iffley and wider community updated
UPDATE on PUBLIC CONSULTATION on the PROPOSAL TO BUILD ON THE HORSE FIELDS
Although the consultation deadline has passed you can still send in comments directly to the Case Officer Michael Kemp. These comments will be considered.
If you haven’t yet commented and would like to, write to: MKEMP@oxford.gov.uk citing Application Reference no: 22/03078/FUL
The proposal: 32 homes on the Horse Fields, with the entrance for 30 on Meadow Lane, and 2 on Church Way. Build is for 161 people,
for whom only 15 car parking spaces (including car-share) are offered, with an additional 2 spaces for the houses off Church Way.
Allocation of the site in the Council’s Local Plan 2036 was contingent on several factors, including: (1) the development would
‘enhance and protect’ the Iffley Conservation Area, and (2) biodiversity would be ‘preserved and enhanced’. The OxPlace proposal currently fulfils neither of these criteria.
The Case Officer has informed FOIV that OxPlace’s ‘application is not in a position to be determined in its current form’. He is ‘awaiting revisions to a range of documents based on consultee responses which will each need to be reviewed.’ The application will not go to the Planning Committee in March, and indeed, given that ‘a comprehensive set of new information’ has been requested of the Applicant, the earliest realistic date would be May, though it ‘will likely be later than that.’
‘Consultee responses’ include an independent Planning Assessment, commissioned by the Iffley Crowd Fund, five expert reports commissioned by FOIV or offered pro bono, and reports by Iffley Village residents with relevant expertise. These reports are available on the FOIV website, and on the Oxford Planning Applications website. We recommend starting with MWA Planning Assessment conclusions: 7 points outlining why permission should be refused (pp. 43-44). This Assessment, plus our experts’ reports point to numerous deficiencies in OxPlace’s Application.
An unprecedented number of people, more than 1100, also sent in individual responses, of which the overwhelming majority object to the Application. These responses come from Iffley and the wider East Oxford area, from all over Oxford, as well as from national and international visitors with connections to the village. The historic, rural character of Iffley, and its quiet green lanes are much loved locally and further afield.
When we have further information, we will share it here, and via our email newsletter. Please sign up with us, if you’d like to be kept informed via email.
FOIV Committee extends its warm thanks to everyone who participated in the public consultation. Your efforts have made a real difference. Thank you.
For more info visit the Friends of Iffley Village website: https://friendsofiffley.org/
FOIV Committee
Bulletin 23 05 – 8 March 2023
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