Shark

Headington News: Monday 18 March, 2024

Development at Bayswater Farm, Sandhills

Carter Jonas on behalf of the Cilldara Group (Headington) Ltd has submitted an outline planning application to Oxford City Council for 121 homes and a care home on the land of Bayswater Farm, This land, although to the south of the Bayswater Brook, comes under South Oxfordshire District Council, and an earlier application was submitted to them. It has now been submitted to Oxford City Council as well because access to the development is from Delbush and Burdell Avenues in Sandhills.

The Cilldara Group held an online consultation in December 2023 before submitting the application, but the consultation website has since been taken down:

The Bayswater Farm site is alongside the bridle path that runs from Sandhills through Barton to Forest Hill. Although it is on the south side of the Bayswater Brook, it comes under South Oxfordshire District Council.

Background

This land was allocated for development as part of STRAT13, the strategic development site in South Oxfordshire District Council’s Local Plan 2035 that includes the much larger Christ Church development to the west and on the north side of the Bayswater Brook. .

In mid-February 2021 the Lone Star Group Ltd of Henley-in-Arden (an independent land promoter) announced here on LinkedIn that they were “delighted to announce the acquisition and promotion of land at Bayswater Farm, Oxford. The site will deliver c130 dwellings”. They later stated here that they had acquired seven hectares of “prime Oxford real estate at Bayswater Farm” for a private client, and the proposed number of dwellings had increased from 130 to 150. The Cilldara Group bought the land from the Lone Star Group in February 2021.

Café and sports facilities at Bury Knowle Park

Courtside CIC are currently creating a new café at Bury Knowle Park, as well as improving the sports facilities there. It is currently advertising here for a café manager, deputy café manager, and part-time café staff (ten hours per week), with an expected start date of 13 May 2024.

Courtside received a grant from the Community Ownership Fund (part of the Government's Levelling Up programme) that was ring-fenced for a proposed multi-activity hub in the sports and recreation corner of the park. The following planning application was approved on 23 November 2023: “Alterations and extensions to existing pavilion to create a new kitchen, café area, storage room and bin store. Alterations to existing tennis court and creation of an all-weather Multi Use Games Area (MUGA). Creation of mini-golf course, 2no. shuffleboard courts and a group exercise space. Installation of 2no. table tennis tables. Provision of cycle storage and new seating areas. Alterations to existing boundary and landscaping to include the removal 1no. hedge and 2no. trees”:

See the findings of the public consultation held by Courtside in October 2022 and subscribe to its mailing list here.

Old Road Campus developments
Institute for Global Health

The following planning application was approved by the Oxford Planning Committee on 8 June 2022 for Plot B1 on the northern boundary of the Old Road campus, with Old Road to the north and Mileway Gardens to the west:

“Construction of 4552 square metres of office, research and teaching space (F.1 Use Class) for the Institute for Global Health. Provision of an outbuilding to provide cycle parking, bin storage and associated sprinkler system with associated hard and soft landscaping works”.

The £32m facility designed by Associated Architects will be built by Morgan Sindall Construction to accommodate 400 staff and 330 researchers.

Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building

A £50m Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building will be built on the Old Road campus and will house over 300 research scientists

The Pandemic Sciences Centre (“a multidisciplinary initiative to create collaborative science-driven solutions to identify, prepare for, and counter pandemic threats”) will share the Poonawalla site.

Churchill Hospital major development

A planning application was submitted in September 2023 for “Erection of a modular manufacturing building (Use Class E). Extension to service road. Installation of generator with palisade fencing, electrical transformer, vehicle barriers, bollards and lampposts. Provision of car and cycle parking, loading area, fencing and landscaping”. These plans have been called in:

 

John Radcliffe Hospital major development

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust submitted a major planning application in September 2023 for “Erection of an extension to provide modular theatre building with link corridor, provision of two external plant buildings, associated infrastructure, landscaping and parking” and 28 new documents were added in January 2024::

Headington Co‑op site: Hotel plan refused

Cantay Estates have lost their appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. On 29 January 2024 Government Planning Inspector Jonathan Bore dismissed the appeal (which was on the grounds that the city council had taken too long to determine the application). He simultaneously refused the original planning application, as the application had already been discussed by the city's Planning Committee in July 2023, and this draft minute says that it would have been refused if an appeal had not been lodged for non-determination.

For reasons for the dismissal, follow the appeal decision link here:

Background

In February 2023 Cantay Estates Ltd submitted alternative planning applications for the site of the Headington Co-op at 152 London Road. Each of the two options had four floors (rather than the five proposed in the earlier planning application for a hotel submitted in 2021):

Option 1 (full application):
Refused on appeal
4,500 sq ft replacement Co-op store (to include the Post Office facility) + 92-bed hotel on three floors above

“Demolition of existing retail store (Use Class E). Erection of new building at 1 to 4 storeys containing retail store (Use Class E) and hotel (Use Class C1). Service area, landscaping, cycle parking, and drop off bays on Stile Road”

  • Planning application 23/00272/FUL that was refused on appeal

Option 2 (outline application):
Withdrawn in July 2023

Research & development building with offices for 151 employees

“Outline application seeking the approval of access, layout and scale for the demolition of existing retail store (Use Class E). Erection of new building at 2 to 4 storeys to provide Use Class E floorspace comprising use for research and development and offices (including Life Sciences); ground floor coffee shop. Service area, landscaping, cycle parking, and drop off bays on Stile Road”:

Headington Co‑op originally opened in 1892 on the corner of Windmill Road and in the 1930s expanded into the shops under Holyoake Hall and the top two shops in Windmill Road. In 1979 it moved to its present purpose-built premises on the site of the former Eyles & Coxeter garage. Headington Post Office moved inside this shop in February 2016, and Co‑op Travel in September 2021.

Early in 2020 MidCounties Co-op Investments Ltd sold the freehold of the whole Co-op site with vacant possession, and on 1 December 2020 Midcounties Co‑op informed its members that they had sold the Headington Co‑op site to developers because the Headington store did not fit the long-term strategy of the Society, but that they hoped to operate a convenience store on the site following the redevelopment.

The building was advertised for sale by JLL earlier that year, with the closing date for offers of 12 March 2020:

The site was bought by Cantay Estates Ltd of St Thomas's Street, Oxford (who also redeveloped another Co-op Building, Holyoake Hall, in 2005).

Midcounties Co‑op originally stated that the developers would be seeking planning permission to build a unit with shops on the ground floor and residential flats above, and the JLL brochure above mentions “alternative use potential, including student residential, subject to planning”:

Midcounties Co‑op required an option to retain a convenience store with a gross internal area of c.4,000sq. ft within any development, paying a market rent. (For comparison, the ground-floor area of the present Co‑op, including “back of house”, is 14,752 sq. ft.)

The whole Co‑op site that was sold measures c.0.6 acres and includes the car park on the opposite side of Stile Road. The current rateable value of the property is £230,000 p.a.

The planning application for a hotel on the site that Cantay Estates submitted in December 2021 was refused by Oxford City Council's Planning Committee on 8 March 2022. It was for:

“Demolition of existing retail store (Use Class E). Erection of new building at 1 to 5 storeys containing retail store (Use Class E) and hotel (Use Class C1). Service area, landscaping, cycle parking, and drop off bays on Stile Road”.

This description was changed in January 2022 from the original:

“Proposed demolition of existing buildings used as a retail store. Redevelopment of the site to provide new retail store on part ground floor (Use Class E), hotel entrance and ancillary hotel uses to other part of ground floor, and hotel rooms above (building of varying height ranging from 3 to 5 floors with inset 6th floor and ancillary plant room) (Use Class C1)”.

Following the public consultation in October 2021, changes were made to the original plan, including the reduction of the number of hotel bedrooms from 118 to 108.

Major proposal for the Warneford site

The Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust submitted a Scoping Opinion request to Oxford City Council on 22 May 2023 for a major development called “Warneford Park” at the Warneford Hospital site:

  • Construction of a new mental health hospital
  • Construction of a new research facility
  • Construction of a new post-graduate medical college for the University of Oxford and association accommodation
  • Refurbishment and conversion of the current mental health hospital for use as part of the above college.

A Scoping Opinion request is NOT a planning application and only the planners were invited to respond. They decided on 2 October 2023 that it constituted EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) Development and that an Environmental Statement would be required, particularly relating to the Lye Valley SSSI: see the twelve-page Decision under the Documents tab in the link below.

Full details of the proposed development are in the 142pp document entitled “Warneford Park: Information to Support a Scoping Opinion Request”, which is also under the Documents tab of the above and described as “Background Papers: Scoping report”.

The plans for “Warneford Park” are making progress with the signing of a conditional option agreement between the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust and “a philanthropist”:

Oxford Local Plan 2040

Consultation on the draft Oxford Local Plan 2040 closed on 5 January 2024:

The proposed development sites in Headington include part of the playing fields of Bayards Hill Primary School.

Oxford City Planning Committee

The agenda for the next meeting of the committee on Tuesday 19 March 2024 will appear here about a week before the meeting. (The February meeting was cancelled)

(The former East and West area planning committees were replaced by a single Oxford City Planning Committee in May 2021.The minutes for all the meetings of the old East Area Planning Committee can still be found here)

Headington recycling banks removed

Oxford City Council announced that in October 2023 that it would be removing all recycling banks on their land throughout the city. This means that those at the following sites in Headington have gone:

  • Headington Car Park next to Waitrose (including the charity-run banks collecting textiles, books, etc)
  • Wood Farm (Atkyns Road)
  • Barton (Underhill Circus)
  • Northway (Westlands Drive)

Explanation and full list from Oxford City Council

Headington School and Rye St Antony
to merge as “Headington Rye” in 2024

Headington School on the London Road and Rye St Antony RC School on Pullens Lane are to merge in 2024 to become Headington Rye School. The new Headington Rye Prep will be fully co-educational from September 2024 operating from the current Rye site.

Oxford Tube improvements

Changes to the Oxford Tube bus service to London introduced on 23 October 2023 include the following improvements for people in Headington:

  • The frequency has been improved to 10–15 minutes on Mon–Fri and 8–12 minutes on Sat, and up to 20 minutes into the night
  • A new hourly route through Headington calls at High Wycombe after Lewknor, and also avoids Shepherds Bush and stops in Marylebone Street for Baker Street

Those travelling from Headington who want the Shepherd's Bush route should avoid buses that go via High Wycombe, and on coming back from London need to alight at Thornhill if taking the new service to Carterton, Witney & Eynsham, as this goes over the northern bypass after leaving the Thornhill Park & Ride

Planning Appeals in Headington in 2024
Appeals allowed in 2024
  • 36 Feilden Grove, off Harberton Mead
    Replacement of existing house with a net zero carbon house
    Refused application: 22/01660/FUL
    Allowed Appeal: APP/G3110/W/23/3322988
  • 34 Downside Road, Risinghurst
    Demolition of existing rear extension and garage. Erection of a single-storey side extension and a two-storey rear extension. Insertion of 1no. window to rear elevation
    Refused application: 23/00746/FUL
    Allowed Appeal: APP/G3110/D/23/3330833
Appeals dismissed in 2024
  • Hotel plan for Headington Co-op, 152 London Road
    Application 23/00272/FUL (refused on appeal)
    Dismissed Appeal: APP/G3110/W/23/3322566
  • 317 Hollow Way, Headington
    Erection of a part single-, part two-storey front and side extension. Removal of 1no. chimney. Insertion of 1no. window and alteration to 1no. window to rear elevation
    Refused application: 23/01447/FUL
    Dismissed Appeal: APP/G3110/D/23/3332689
  • 4 Stainfield Road, Northway
    Side extension, front porch, etc
    Refused application: 22/02040/FUL
    Dismissed appeal + appeal for costs : APP/G3110/D/23/3317670
Planning appeals awaiting decision in 2024
  • The Shark House, 2 New High Street
    Refused application requesting change of use from dwelling house to short-stay accommodation: 23/01859/FUL
    Pending enforcement notice appeal: APP/G3110/C/23/3335859
    Pending planning appeal: APP/G3110/C/23/3335859
    Linked case: APP/G3110/W/23/3335902
  • 72A & 72B Windmill Road (Richard Ford's shop)
    Partial demolition and alterations to existing roof, formation of 1no dormer to rear roofslope and insertion of 2no rooflights to front roofslope in association with loft conversion. Formation of first floor rear extension with canopy and external stairs to the rear. Insertion of 1no window to side elevation, and 1no. window to rear elevation. Alterations to existing fenestration and railings. Installation of air source heat pump
    Refused application 23/01709/FUL
    Appeal lodged but not on appeals website: 24/00004/REFUSE

The following appeals from 2022 and 2023 are still undecided:

  • Quarry Mews, 1 Quarry High Street
    Enforcement Notice appeal
    Enforcement notice 18/00097/ENF
    Appeal: APP/G3110/C/22/3292360 (started 15 Feb 2022)
    Enforcement details 18/00097/ENF with 42 items under Documents tab giving the council's and the appellant's case
    The Inquiry date of 27 February 2024 was postponed as the Inspector was ill
  • 27 Long Close, Slade Park
    Change of use from House in Multiple Occupation (Use Class C4) to a large House in Multiple Occupation (Sui Generis). Provision of bin and cycle stores
    Refused application: 22/01309/FUL
    Appeal: APP/G3110/X/23/3329471 (started 28 September 2023)
  • Oxford Guest House, 228 London Road
    Application to certify that the proposed provision of meals to 12 non-residential guests between 12:00 and 22:00 hours (daily) is incidental to the existing hotel use (Use Class C1) [and] is lawful development
    Refused application: 23/00643/CPU
    Appeal: APP/G3110/X/23/3325043 (started 2 October 2023)
  • Acorn House, Stansfeld Park, Quarry Road
    Change of use from dwellinghouse (Use Class C3) to Learning and non-residential institutions (Use Class F1). Erection of single storey rear extension. Formation of ramp access and installation of 1no. electric vehicle charging point
    Refused application: 22/02982/FUL
    Appeal: APP/G3110/W/23/3329980 (started 13 December 2023)
Another possible appeal?
Supported housing for Windmill Road?

A2Dominion have submitted a planning application for “Change of use from Student Accommodation (Sui Generis) to Supported Temporary Housing (Sui Generis)” at Champneys Court at 88 Windmill Road and Edna Rose Court at 90 Windmill Road (one each side of Mattock Close). The 49 student rooms there are currently occupied by Oxford Brookes students.

It appears that the former will remain as it is with 23 units, but changes will be made at the latter to incorporate two key-worker rooms on the ground floor which will reduce the number of study bedrooms to 12.

Many new documents were added to the application on 15 January 2024.

Land North of Bayswater Brook

Detailed background to this development

A major development is planned by Christ Church and Dorchester Residential Development across the Green Belt farmland stretching from the Marston flyover to the Bayswater Road. Here Christ Church sums up the development and include an illustration of the new cycling and pedestrian bridge that will cross to it from Northway:

There are three current planning applications. (Christ Church and Dorchester Residential Management announced that they would be launching three appeals to the Planning Inspectorate in relation to (1) and (2) for failure to give notice of a decision but this has not yet happened:)

(1) Infrastructure (full application)
Resubmitted in September 2023
for comments on revised documents

The first, submitted to both Oxford City Council and to South Oxfordshire District Council, relates to the infrastructure, including:
• Cycle/pedestrian bridge over A40
• New vehicular access on to Elsfield Lane
• Two new vehicular accesses on to Bayswater Road
• Two new public transport crossing bridges over the Bayswater Brook
• Five pedestrian/cycle bridges over the Bayswater Brook
• Flood alleviation measures

(2) Buildings (outline application)
The second planning application was submitted to South Oxfordshire District Council only, and is in two parts:
— Outline planning application for up to 1,450 dwellings, 120 assisted living dwellings, commercial/business/service buildings/health provision, a new primary school, green infrastructure, parking, surface water, and utilities
— Full planning application relating to buildings at Wick Farm, and some new buildings there, etc.

(3) Work to listed buildings on the site (full)
The third planning applications submitted only to South Oxfordshire District Council relates to existing listed buildings on the development site:
“Refurbishment works to the Main Barn and three curtilage barns and refurbishment works to the Wick Farm Well House building”

  • Current South Oxfordshire District Council planning application P22/S4550/LB

A fourth planning application to relocate the Grade II listed boundary stone dated 1684 because it interfered with the earlier proposed bus route has been withdrawn: P23/S1832/LB

Official Bayswater Oxford website

Regeneration of Headington Centre

Headington Action and the Headington Neighbourhood Forum, supported by Oxford City Council, are preparing the Headington Centre Improvement Plan. They have employed the urban design practice AR Urbanism (with the support of Wedderburn Transport Planning) to identify ideas and prepare a plan to implement the vision.

Traffic schemes affecting Headington

(1) Central Oxfordshire Travel Plan

This was approved with modifications by the county council's cabinet in November 2022 and will be republished in the summer of 2023:

(2) Trial traffic filters

On 29 November 2022 the county council's cabinet agreed to trial six traffic filters in Oxford (including one in Headley Way in Headington), but only after the Botley Road reopens (probably in December 2023):

(3) LTNs in Headington

The trial of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) in Headington was due to go ahead in Spring 2022 but appears to have been indefinitely delayed:

Details of the proposals are here on the Headington LibDem website:

Residents from across Headington formed a group called Headington Liveable Streets in May 2020. Join their mailing list to find out what is going on.

Developments on Ruskin site

The following planning application by the University of West London (UWL), which acquired Ruskin College in Dunstan Road in July 2021, has been approved:

"Demolition of the existing 24-bed student accommodation building (Bowen Building) and erection of 65-bed student accommodation building and erection of 30-bed student accommodation building with associated landscaping":

This is an updated version of the previous planning approval (which expired in 2021) for two new student accommodation buildings on the site (17/02387/FUL). It results in a net gain of 71 new student rooms.

Condition 6 (CEMP Biodiversity) was approved on 4 October, and so work is now allowed to start: 22/00962/CND3

Barton Park development

A major new planning application was approved on 10 August 2022, relating to Phase 2 and the whole of Phase 4, which includes the commercial buildings:

Work started in 2015, and the current situation is as follows:

  • Phase 1: Hill has completed the primary school and all of its 237 homes (“Mosaics”)
  • Phase 3: Redrow expects to complete the building of its 207 homes in 2005 (“The Steeples”)
  • Phases 2 & 4: Countryside Housebuilding West was preparing to start on the final largest phase comprising 441 homes (“Beckley Place”) plus the retail space at the end of 2022, but work came to a halt. Countryside was subsequently combined with the Vistry Group and this final part of the Barton Park development is now expected to be completed in 2027.

For full details about the whole development, please see the separate page: Barton Park development

Another major Thornhill development approved

On 13 December 2022 planners resolved to approve the application submitted by the Shaviram Group for a major development in Risinghurst subject to the conditions specified in the minutes of that meeting:

The site is behind and to the west of their existing Thornhill Court and Marley House flats at the Thornhill Park development in the former Nielsen's offices. The description of the plans is as follows:

“Demolition of The Cottage building. Partial demolition and alterations to Forest Lodge building. Erection of 402 apartments (Class C3), a 133 bed hotel (Class C1), employment provision in the form of offices, with additional mixed use accommodation to include gym, café and restaurant (all within Class E), public open space, associated landscape, bicycle and car parking and the provision of a new vehicular access onto the A40”.

The planning application has not yet been formally approved, as the section 106 agreement has not yet been finalized.

Soon after the planning meeting Sandhill Development Ltd (Shavriam Group) put up for sale as a development opportunity the part of their site at Thornhill that relates to the 133-bedroom hotel, with offers to be in by 20 March 2023:

In January 2024 the hotel part of the development is marked as under offer:

 

Twitter

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follow @HeadingtonNews on Twitter

Shop and businesses changes in 2024

(Shop changes and closures in 2023 can be seen here)

Bluefin Quality Fishmonger

This fishmonger opened on 13 February 2024 in the former Co-op Travel shop at Unit 1B, Holyoake Hall. Open 9am–6pm everyday except Monday, when it is closed.

The premises were advertised to let by Cluttons at £19,000 p.a. and were marked as under offer in September 2023.

Babylon: House of Shawarma takeaway

This opened on 29 February 2024 at 113 London Road (the former Lemon Garden dessert café). It was refurbished as a takeaway in 2023/4, following the approval of a planning application in April 2023 for change of use from Café (Use Class E) to a hot food takeaway (Sui Generis), and for the installation of a condenser unit and an extractor flue to the rear elevation:

Beecher Acoustics, 1 Quarry High Street

The Beecher Acoustics premises at 1 Quarry High Street (the Victorian shop next to Quarry Mews) are for sale with Knightsbridge PLC. The 256sq.m. three-floor commercial area and the 38sq.m. overhead flat are valued at c.£1.4million:

Upstairs at Oxford Orthodontic Centre

An application for prior approval for part change of use of first floor of 95 London Road from Commercial, Business and Service (Use Class E) to create a 1 x 2 bed dwellinghouse (Use Class C3).was approved on 7 March 2024:

An earlier application for the two upstairs floors was refused in 2023 (23/01659/EC56).

Bliss Hair Salon

This is due to open in Adria's former premises at 5 Simon House. (The hexagonal sign over the door originally said “Le Vin Café”, but there appears to have been a change of plan.)

The Six Bells, Quarry

At the beginning of 2024 the Six Bells was put up for sale freehold with vacant possession via Savills (offers in the region of £795,000 + VAT). There was also the possibility of an alternative letting arrangement for operation as a public house. It is marked as under offer in March 2024:

Vacant premises in Headington centre in 2024
Former Sue Ryder charity shop (formerly Clovers)

2A Windmill Road

This is advertised as to let by Benedicts Consultant Surveyors at a rent of £27,500 p.a. or for sale at a price of £375,000.

A planning application was approved in December 2023 for “Change of use of first floor [of No. 2A] from Retail (Use Class A1) to 1 x 2 bed dwelling (Use Class C3). Provision of bin and cycle stores including formation of screening”:

Former Coventry Building Society

133–135 London Road

Ashken Ltd (RMA Properties) acting on behalf of the applicant have been granted planning permission for proposed (but unspecific) restaurant use at the former Coventry Building Society premises at 133–135 London Road (near Bury Knowle Park)

Former NatWest Bank

89–91 London Road

To let with Green & Partners (£40,000 p.a.) following its closure on 7 February 2023. The freehold of the building was bought by Pinky Pinks Property Ltd (registered in the British Virgin Islands) for £645,000 on 5 September 2013 (ON103063).

A planning application “to certify that the existing subdivision of property into 2 x 1 bed flats (Use Class C3) is lawful development”, relating to 89A and 89B London Road, was submitted in November 2023:

Former Leaders

2 Windmill Road

9A and 11 Windmill Road

These two vacant shops were formerly a foot health practitioner and Ice Hair. The whole building that they occupy was offered for sale by Carter Jonas (£750,000) as an investment opportunity.

Local elections in May 2024

The city council will hold an election for one seat in each ward. In the Headington & Marston area, this means the following seats will be contested:

  • Barton & Sandhills: Tanagra Jabu Nala-Hartley (Oxford Socialist Independents)
  • Churchill: Mark Lygo (Labour)
  • Headington: Mohammed Altaf-Khan (LibDem)
  • Headington Hill & Northway: Nigel Chapman (Labour)
  • Marston: Mary Clarkson (Labour)
  • Quarry & Risinghurst: Roz Smith (LibDem)

Note that photo ID will be required in order to vote.

(There are no county council elections this year, as all county councillors were elected to May 2025.)

New 5G telecommunications masts

The new mast between the Six Bells and the bypass has been taken down as it is understood to have caused flooding in Spring Lane.

So far nine planning applications for 5G telecommunications poles and ancillary 5G equipment in Headington have been approved and five replacement 5G poles allowed, as well as replacement 5G equipment on the roofs of other Headington buildings.

Site of former Quarry Gate

The Quarry Gate pub at 19 Wharton Road was demolished in 2015 and the site still remains undeveloped. The new owners, however, are making progress with the conditions and hope to commence development before the planning permission for the site (21/00586/FUL) expires in June 2024..

In late 2023 Seville Developments of Oxford sold the site to Kilkenny & Gomm Developments Ltd of Oxford. The latter applied to the city council to vary Conditions 2, 8, and 13 of the above approved plan, but their application was refused on 30 January 2024:

  • “Variation of condition 2 (Develop in accordance with approved plans), 8 (Contamination 1) and 13 (CTMP) of planning permission[see (3) below] to allow alterations the car parking layout as well as internal and external changes to the approved dwelling houses: 23/02904/VAR

Two of those conditions have now been approved:

  • Details submitted in compliance with condition 13 (the Construction Traffic Management Plan): 21/00586/CND2
  • Details submitted in compliance with condition 8 (Contamination 1): 21/00586/CND3
The five applications submitted by Seville Developments

(1) Their first (full) application was refused on 19 June 2018 on the grounds that it “fails to relate to the strong sense of character of the surrounding area”. It was for “Erection of 1 x 3-bed and 2 x 4-bed dwellinghouses (Use Class C3). Provision of private amenity space, bin and cycle storage and car parking spaces”:

(2) Their second (outline) planning application was approved on 22 May 2020: “Outline application (seeking approval of access, layout and scale) for the erection of 1 x 3-bed dwelling and 2 x 4-bed dwellings”:

(3) Their third (full) planning application was approved in June 2021. This was for: “Erection of 3 x 4-bed dwellinghouses (Use Class C3). Provision of car parking, private amenity space, bin and bike stores”:

(4) Their fourth (full) planning application was approved on 19 October 2021. This was for: “Erection of a 1 x 4 -bed dwelling with garage (Use Class C3) and 4 x 2-bed apartments (Use Class C3). Provision of landscaping and bin and cycle storage”:

(5) The last plan, submitted in September 2023, was withdrawn in January 2024. It was for “Erection of 3 x 4-bed dwellinghouses (Use Class C3). Provision of car parking, private amenity space and bin and cycle stores”:

Brookes: Headington Hill Hall site

The following developments commenced in 2023 and building work continues into 2024:

(1) John Garne Way Development

On 12 October 2021 the Oxford Planning Committee refused this revised application by Oxford Brookes University to replace twelve buildings at Clive Booth student village in John Garne Way, but it was called in to the Planning Review Committee by thirteen city councillors (details here), and was approved at its meeting on 11 November 2021. It is for:

“Demolition of twelve buildings (including main accommodation Blocks C, F, G, H, J, K, L and M) and erection of twelve buildings to provide student accommodation, with ancillary communal and social facilities and associated administrative building (Class C2). Erection of children's nursery (Class E). Alterations to car parking, installation of cycle parking structures and associated landscaping works, including reorganisation of existing footpaths and cycle ways, drainage features and ancillary development. Installation of a waste compactor unit and alterations to an existing road to enable access”

On 11 December 2021 the following article by Peter Hitchens condemning this decision was published in the Spectator:
Only a benevolent dictator can save Oxford
(but note that only two articles can be viewed as a guest)

(2) New Engineering Building

A planning application was approved on 21 June 2022 for an Engineering Building on the site of the ancillary car park next to the Richard Hamilton Building:

(3) New Technology, Design, & Environment building
(on site of Helena Kennedy Building)

The original planning application by Oxford Brookes for the demolition of the existing Helena Kennedy building and the erection of a replacement academic building for the Faculty of Technology, Design, and Environment was approved on 1 August 2018:

The designs were shown at a public exhibition in March 2018:

The plans were delayed, however, as asbestos was found in the ground, and a revised application incorporating a basement was submitted:

(4) Cuckoo Lane footpath

Planning permission was granted to Oxford Brookes University in January 2022 for its amended its planning application relating to the Cuckoo Lane footpath, which includes partial demolition of the boundary wall (which is curtilage listed) to form a new entrance gap, and closing the existing gap.

Ivy Lane flats

Building of these flats commenced in 2023 and continues into 2024.

On 6 November 2019 the East Area Planning Committee approved the following planning applications submitted by A2 Dominion South Ltd for new flats on the Ivy Lane site at the John Radcliffe Hospital::

“Demolition of existing buildings. Phased construction of key worker housing comprising 56 cluster units, 21 x one-bed studio apartments, 48 flats (17 x one-bed, 31 x two-beds), management office and associated works including parking and landscaping”.

There were formerly 408 key-worker bedrooms on the Ivy Lane site, and the new development will provide 468.

a2dominion: Application form for key workers to apply current accommodation at Ivy Lane (not the new-build flats)

The six new houses in Quarry High Street

The appeal by the developer against the enforcement notice requiring the demolition of “Quarry Mews” that started on 15 February 2022 will be decided at an Inquiry starting two years later on 27 February 2024:

Following the raising of concerns about the height of this mews block of six houses near the recreation ground and its closeness to the street, on 5 January 2022 Oxford City Council served an enforcement notice on the owner giving six months to demolish the houses and another month to clear the site. The developers, “Quarry Mews Ltd” (Jonathan and Sarah Beecher of Beecher Acoustics at 1 Quarry High Street), lodged an appeal on 15 February 2022 against the enforcement notice:

The houses are currently being let out, with one of them advertised to rent at £1,295.00 per month from 22 May 2022.

Background

The original planning application for the site (05/02065/FUL) was withdrawn following opposition by local residents.

The amended planning approved application was for:
“Demolition of existing workshop building and outbuildings. Retention of existing shop and one bedroom flat. Erection of 2-storey workshop building, with music room and office. Erection of 6 x 1 bedroom dwellings in a 3- storey terrace. Alterations to the existing access and formation of 9 car parking spaces (3 for the workshop and 6 for the dwellings)”.
The workshop behind Beecher Acoustics at 1 Quarry High Street is already complete.

A separate application was submitted for “Conservation area consent for demolition of existing workshop building and outbuildings” and this includes documents relevant to the new buildings as well as the demolition, plus the comments on the application, but this has reverted to the original application approved in March 2006:

An application originally submitted in January 2020, “Details submitted in compliance with condition 2 (Samples of exterior materials) of planning permission 06/00023/FU” was resubmitted in March 2021 but has now been removed:

An application submitted in December 2020, “Details submitted in compliance with condition 7 (new tree pit / planting specifications) and 16 (confirmation of contaminated soil removal/replacement) of planning permission 06/00023/FUL” was refused in February 2021:

The following application was submitted in March 2021:

“Details submitted in compliance with conditions 3 (Details of the stone wall), 4 (Details of the building/alterations and external finish), 7 (Landscape plan), 9 (Details) 10 (Parking) 12 (Footway) 16 (Desk-top study) and 18 (Front boundary) of planning permission 06/00023/FUL”:

Former Crown & Thistle pub, 132 Old Road

This pub closed down on 31 December 2011, and on 30 November 2012 the freehold of the building was purchased from Greene King for £425,000 by developers (S. P. Singh, S. J. Kaur, and G. Kaur).

This building was granted Heritage Asset status on 23 March 2022:

On 10 January 2024 the following “permission in principle” planning application submitted by Medallion (Oxford) Ltd was refused: “Re-development of the former public house for between 1no. and 9no. dwellings (Use Class C3) (All matters of design including scale, demolition and/or conversion and all technical matters reserved for future application)”:

On 23 September 2022 an earlier “permission in principle” application (identical except that it referred to a minimum of seven dwellings) was also refused: “Re-development of the former public house for between 7no. and 9no. dwellings (Use Class C3) (All matters of design including scale, demolition and/or conversion and all technical matters reserved for future application)”
(Amended description)

Separate development on the Crown & Thistle car park

On 26 June 2013 the developers were granted planning permission to build the three four-bedroomed houses that now stand in its large car park to the west:

Voi e-scooters

The Department for Transport has set its e-scooter trials to continue until 1 June 2024. The Oxford trial started in 2021 with just 25 Voi scooters in Headington with restricted hours, and by 2023 there were 750 Voi scooters throughout the city available 24/7. They are easily identified by their coral colour.

Headington was initially selected by Oxfordshire County Council and Voi Scooters for a twelve-month trial of e-scooters to rent, starting on 18 February 2021, following the granting of a licence to operate by the Department for Transport to the county council.

The Voi scooters are allowed in cycle lanes but banned on pavements without lanes, and can only be used by people over 18 with a provisional or full driving licence. Riders can be banned from driving cars if prosecuted for drink-driving while riding a Voi scooter (e.g. see under 13 June 2023 here).

All privately owned e-scooters remain illegal on public roads

More flats in Headington
(1) Developments following Lime Walk test case

In September 2019 the Planning Inspector for the 4 Lime Walk planning appeal confirmed that no provision for affordable housing need be made on that site. This set a precedent for all developments of between 4 and 9 flats, and a high number of applications have been submitted in Oxford since that date.

(2) Offices/shops/banks/restaurants to flats

Since May 2014 it has been possible to convert offices to homes under permitted development rights (as long as specified aspects such as transport and highway impacts, and contamination and flooding risks are checked first). When the government brought in this scheme in 2013, officials anticipated that it might result in as few as five extra conversion projects a year across the whole of England, but very soon there were ten successful applications in the Headington area alone, the most significant being the conversion of Nielsen's at Thornhill Park

On 1 August 2021 this Class O permitted development right for conversions of offices to residences was replaced by Class MA, which now includes all Class E properties (shops, banks. and restaurants) as well as offices, with a maximum size limit of 1,500 square metres:

(3) Rooftop extensions to dwellings

Following revised permitted development rights adopted in September 2020, rooftop extensions are allowed without obtaining planning permission but still need prior approval. These applications have the suffix BFL56, and so far only one has been approved (at Girdlestone Close)

HMO legislation

A house in multi-occupation in Oxford must have C4 planning permission, which is unlikely to be granted in streets that already have a high proportion of student housing. The following appeals by landlords relating to the refusal of change of use from C3 to C4 status in Headington were refused:

In addition, since 24 February 2012, Oxford City Council regulations have required that a house with just three or four unrelated occupants is licensed as a HMO. Licences for these smaller houses are awarded subject to modifications being made within six months (e.g. a cooker now has to have a work-surface on each side; there must be a wired in smoke-detector on each floor and a heat detector in the kitchen; the kitchen area must be fitted with a fire door; and where the front door can be double-locked, a box with key and hammer has to be attached to the wall).

Headington city council ward

The LibDem councillors have a website with news relating to the central Headington ward. As their ward includes most of the central shopping area, it will also be of interest to people in other parts of Headington.

Headington Action revised grant schemes

Headington Action can provide small grants for projects that will benefit the local community.  There are two types of grant: Small Sparks Grants offer start-up funding, typically to enable new projects to ‘get off the ground’, while Community Support Grants provide for other community activities.  Normal limits are £250 for Small Sparks and £500 for Community Support Grants. 

Application forms and further details are available here on the Headington Action website.

Letting out driveways for parking

In July 2015 JustPark wrote to nearly every household in Headington suggesting that they could earn £1500 a year renting out their driveway. A search for "Headington, Oxford, United Kingdom" on their website reveals that over 100 people in the area were already doing this with them:

Other similar companies are also operating in the area:
ParkLet and Your Parking Space and Park on My Drive.

Property in Headington owned offshore

In 2012 Private Eye put online an interactive map showing all English and Welsh property acquired by overseas companies between 2005 and December 2014.

Repatriation tributes in Headley Way

The John Radcliffe Hospital houses the Armed Forces Department of Pathology, and when members of the forces are killed their bodies are taken there. The funeral cortège passes through Marsh Lane and Headington on their way to the hospital.

These repatriations are now thankfully very rare, but from March 2008 to May 2014 the Royal British Legion, joined by members of the public, held 153 repatriation tributes for 321 members of the services outside St Anthony of Padua Church in Headley Way:

Sign up on the official Oxfordshire County Council website to be notified of any future repatriation dates and times:

 

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