Agenda item

Retrospective application for garden building ancillary to the dwelling. To form recreation games room/gym, workshop, WC & store room (as amplified by additional information received 11 July 2022 and amended by plan and information received 23 January 2023).

The committee considered planning application P21/V1202/HH for the retrospective application for garden building ancillary to the dwelling to form recreation games room/gym, workshop, WC & store room (as amplified by additional information received 11 July 2022 and amended by plan and information received 23 January 2023), on land at The Stables, Oxford Road, Farmoor, Oxford.  

Consultations, representations, policy and guidance, and the site’s planning history were detailed in the officer’s report, which formed part of the agenda pack for the meeting. 

The planning officer introduced the report and highlighted that the application was called into the committee by the local ward member, Councillor Judy Roberts. The application was within the Oxford Green Belt and was a retrospective application for a detached outbuilding.

The planning officer informed the committee that the application was retrospective as the owner had started construction of the outbuilding under the assumption the works would be allowed under permitted development rights. However, this was not the case and so the outbuilding remained partially constructed. As officers did not support the structure as built, the applicant submitted revised plans by demolishing elements of the existing structure.

The planning officer noted that the main consideration for the application was that the site sat within the Oxford Green Belt, but that there was no clear guidance on outbuildings provided in the National Planning Policy Framework or the Local Plan, and thus proportionality would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

As the applicant reduced the outbuildings footprint, scale, and mass, and that the planning officer believed that it could be viewed within the domestic context of the plot, he considered it acceptable, subject to conditions.

The planning officer also noted that the site was not within a flood zone, and the councils drainage engineer had assessed the flood risk report and was satisfied and so had no objection to the application. In addition, as the site was over 80 metres from the closest dwelling, the planning officer believed it would have no impact on neighbouring amenity. 

Overall, as the planning officer believed that the proposal to demolish sections of the structure would result in an outbuilding that would be a reasonable addition to the dwelling and not out of scale, and that conditions could be imposed that would ensure the outbuilding remained ancillary, that planning officer recommended the application be approved.  

Councillor Tom Christophers spoke on behalf of Cumnor Parish Council, objecting to the application. 

Bob Pope, the agent representing the applicant, spoke in support of the application. 

Councillor Judy Roberts, a local ward councillor, spoke objecting to the application. 

The committee inquired about what type of land the outbuilding sat on, and the planning officer confirmed that it was considered to be within the domestic curtilage. In addition, members asked why the application was considered acceptable, but the originally proposed application was not. In response, the planning officer said that the reduction in size would make it more proportionate as it was roughly the size of a double garage, something that was normally allowed in the Green Belt.

In response to questions about the nature of the structure, a point of clarity was made by the planning officer who confirmed to the committee that this structure was ancillary to the existing dwelling and that conditions could be put in place to ensure that it could never be used as a separate dwelling. Members then asked the planning officer if a future application which requested planning permission to turn the outbuilding into a dwelling would be refused. The planning officer believed that, as this would result in the creation of a new dwelling in the Green Belt, it would be recommended for refusal.

Overall, members agreed with the officer’s recommendations as they believed that the outbuilding was an appropriate and reasonable development in the context of the Oxford Green Belt and that the proposed condition restricting its use was satisfactory. Therefore, the committee agreed to approve the application subject to conditions.

A motion, moved and seconded, to approve the application was carried on being put to the vote. 

RESOLVED: to approve planning application P21/V1202/HH, subject to the following conditions:

Standard:

1. Approved plans

Compliance:

2. Materials in Accordance with Application

3. Restriction of Use to Ancillary Accommodation