Planning & Development Bulletin - Nov 2021

On behalf of the University of Oxford, Carter Jonas’ Planning Team for the South and South West has submitted a Planning Application to Oxford City Council for a new Humanities Building at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.

The submission follows a thorough period of pre-application engagement with Officers of the City Council and key stakeholders, as well as two rounds of public consultation with local residents and community groups.

The Humanities Building will house the faculties and libraries of the Humanities at the University of Oxford. It will bring together, for the first time, seven Humanities faculties and six libraries, a high-profile new Institute for Ethics in AI, the Oxford Internet Institute and a number of research centres and facilities. 

The new Humanities Building will also provide a new concert hall, theatre, exhibition space and spaces for performance and public engagement. It will be a new destination for visitors and residents in Oxford. The Humanities Cultural Programme will also transfer into the new Humanities building. The aim of the programme is to engage and collaborate with partners to facilitate knowledge exchange and to bring world class musicians and other performers to Oxford to perform in the Concert Hall and other venues in the new building. The new Humanities building will serve as a hub for contact to the University for artists, performers, and members of the public wishing to learn, explore and engage in a variety of ways.

The existing partnerships that have been forged with local, regional and national groups ensure that the proposals for the new Humanities building are complementary to, and will not compete with, the alternative venues and destinations already existing within Oxford city centre. The new Humanities Building will meet the challenge of providing a welcoming, delightful and collaborative environment for a range of users.

The planning application is anticipated to be determined in Early 2022.

For further information, please contact a member of our team:

Stephanie Weeks
Associate Partner
07826 867328
stephanie.weeks@carterjonas.co.uk

Carter Jonas were delighted to assist Endurance Estates Land Promotion Ltd in securing a resolution to approve for up to 107 residential dwellings on land west of Station Road in Longstanton.  

Carter Jonas provided both Planning and Masterplanning Services.  The proposals form part of the wider Phase 3B proposals within the New Town at Northstowe that will deliver 10,000 new homes.  The proposals on the site will deliver 40% affordable housing along with an employment/community/café space together with parking, landscaping and associated infrastructure.

The submission of the planning application followed a detailed pre-application process which included engagement with Council Officers and the Local Community.  The application was accompanied by a Development Co-ordination Statement document that was prepared in concert with the two adjoining landowners; Homes England and Middlereach Ltd.  This will ensure that a coordinated and consistent development of the land west of Station Road will come forward.  The site occupies a highly sustainable location within Northstowe and is located in close proximity to the Guided Bus and the new Town Centre.

On behalf of Beckwith Knowle Developments Ltd, the CJ Planning North Team have successfully secured resolution to grant a hybrid planning permission, subject to a S106 agreement for commercial and industrial development at land to the west of Darlington Road, Northallerton. 

Following a pre-application enquiry and EIA screening require, the team subsequently managed engagement with local residents and ward members and the preparation of technical information required to support a hybrid application.

The application was supported by viability information submitted on a private and confidential basis to justify a departure from the existing and emerging Local Plans in relation to the need for commercial uses at the front of the site to fund the infrastructure required to deliver the wider site for employment use. 

Upon submitting the hybrid application, our planning team worked closely with the Lead Local Flood Authority and Yorkshire Water to address concerns in relation to drainage. Contributions towards off site highways improvements and a bus service as part of a S106 were also agreed.

Following the resolution of all technical issues the application was taken to planning committee in August with an officer recommendation for approval. Whilst it was deferred for additional information in relation to infrastructure delivery, balancing pond safety measure, job creation and bat protection measures it was subsequently endorsed by members at Committee in October 2021.