Proposal:
Application number P24/V1310/FUL. Two bedroom dwelling for guest accommodation for Broom Close
Broom Close Old Boars Hill Oxford OX1 5JQ
Our Response:
Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT) welcomes this opportunity to comment on the above planning application for the proposed erection of a two bedroom dwelling for guest accommodation on land adjacent Broom Close, Old Boars Hill. OPT object to the application based on the impact the development would have on the rural character of the surrounding area. The site, whilst under the ownership of Broom Close, reads as a stand alone area of open space which has been left to mature, so now makes a positive contribution to the area with trees and other vegetation.
The application site sits immediately adjacent to the culturally significant Jarn Wild Garden and Mound which was designed and created by the renowned archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans in 1931, as well as Mathew Arnold’s Field, and is located within the Oxford Green Belt. It is the view of OPT that the proposal should be viewed as inappropriate development within the Green Belt in accordance with paragraph 154 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). In terms of the policy test set out within the NPPF OPT do not consider the proposed ‘guest accommodation’ falls within the very special circumstances required for inappropriate development within the Green Belt, further defined by paragraph 153 within the document.
Whilst the proposed site layout plans shows the retention of some of the existing boundary planting , the development of the site would result in an inevitable loss of planting within the site to accommodate the access and dwelling house. This loss of landscaping along the major route to Jarn Wild Garden and Mound, and Mathew Arnold’s Field would significantly alter the rural setting of these heritage assets, in addition to loss of ecological habitat within the site.
The impact on the areas rural character would be felt in the public realm as the proposed development would be visible through the existing tree line and result in the addition of additional domestic massing in the rural edge of Old Boars Hill. Further impacts would be felt by the inevitable influx of domestic paraphernalia which would accompany the proposed scheme (bin, bike storage, sheds) subsequently further eroding the rural character of this Green Belt site.
The stand-alone nature of this proposed guest accommodation, being completely separate from the main house on its own plot, would create the possibility of this ancillary unit at some point in the future becoming a separate dwelling altogether. OPT would politely urge Officers to consider this, and if permission were to be granted to attach a condition which ensures the development would kept as an ancillary unit to the main house.
OPT request that Officers strongly consider the contribution the site currently makes to the wider rural setting of this part of Old Boars Hill, and the immediately adjacent Jarn Wild Garden and Mound, and Matthew Arnolds Field. OPT object to the scheme on the basis that it would constitute inappropriate development within the Green Belt, in addition to it being harmful to the character of this rural edge of Old Boars Hill through the loss of planting and the introduction of additional built form in a rural area.
Outcome:
The above application was subsequently refused by the council following our comments.