Councillors vote to approve Oxford North
Suzanne Lovell
Almost 10 years after it was first proposed, the Oxford North development has won approval from councillors.
The radical scheme for 480 homes, 87,000 sq m of employment space, a hotel with up to 180 rooms, small shops, bars and restaurants and £100 million of new infrastructure on 64 acres of agricultural land, was approved – subject to its s106 agreement - by Oxford City Council’s west area planning committee on November 27.
It had been deferred at a meeting in September over the amount and type of affordable housing in the scheme.
Discussions between the developer, Thomas White Oxford (TWO), which is owned by St John’s College, and council officers, led to a recommendation for approval and councillors voted in favour by six to three.
TWO will now begin negotiations over the s106 agreement before the decision is finalised.
TWO director William Donger said: “We have reached a milestone in Oxford North’s project which has been nearly 10 years in the making, dating back to the early draft stages of the core strategy, adopted in 2012, and the northern gateway area action plan, adopted in 2015.
“We welcome the west area planning committee’s decision on Oxford North’s planning application. From the outset, Oxford North has been a shared vision between Oxford City Council and TWO, about making long term social investment in Oxford, benefitting existing and future generations.
“We believe this project will be a truly transformational and positive addition to one of the world’s greatest cities. It will deliver high-quality workspace for start-ups such as high-tech university spin-outs and businesses, much-needed housing including 168 affordable homes, investment in infrastructure for all forms of transport, new green spaces and a new sustainable community for Oxford of which we can all be proud.
“This project will help the city council to secure the £15.9m Government infrastructure funding. We will now turn to working with the city council in order to secure planning permission.”
The team acting for TWO includes Savills, Fletcher Priest Architects, Gardiner & Theobald LLP, Peter Brett Associates (now Stantec), Townshend Landscape Architects, Hoare Lea, EDP, AKT II, and BSG Ecology.
Source: https://www.tvproperty.co.uk/news/councillors-vote-to-approve-oxford-north
Image: Thames Valley Property