Pooles Lane development

Sun 8 May 2016, 12:30

Once again I would personally like to thank members of the CCA for bringing all their collective knowledge, expertise and carefully considered opinions to this application.
Here are some comments from the Minutes of the last meeting of the Charlbury Conservation Area Advisory Committee.
With reference to: 16/01318/FUL Elmstead Crawborough Charlbury Chipping Norton Oxfordshire OX7 3TX
Erection of four dwellings and garages to including one self-build unit, alterations to existing dwelling and access onto Pooles Lane.
"The Committee had made detailed comments on the previous application for this site at its January meeting (see Annexe A). Some of these remained valid in respect of the new application while other concerns had been met wholly or in part. The omission of the pedestrian refuge and retention of the Pooles Lane wall on its existing alignment were welcomed, as was the setting back of the front houses from the lane. The new stone walls within the development, the modest re-alignment of the access road to make it less suburban in character and the use of stone rather than timber cladding on the rear parts of the houses were all seen as improvements. The application documents still appeared inconsistent in describing the roof materials: natural grey slates and Cardinal stone tiles in the D&A Statement; a mixture of slate and red clay tiles in the drawings. Members reiterated their strong preference for stone slate/tile with some Welsh slate as best reflecting the character of the Conservation Area.

Apart from regret at the loss of an important open area within the Conservation Area, the harm to the character of Pooles Lane from reducing the stone wall and demolishing the stone outbuilding remained the Committee's key concern. Both made a substantial contribution to the character of this attractive and historic lane, the former road from Charlbury to Woodstock, as it leaves the Playing Close and winds down and uphill to reach open country at the edge of the town. The stone building was both a precious survival of the lane's semi- rural past and played an important psychological role in helping to slow traffic in the narrowest part of the lane. It was therefore particularly disappointing and ironic to see it and much of the stone wall sacrificed for visibility requirements that are not present elsewhere in the Conservation Area, including at the top of Bayliss Yard opposite. Members noted that a similar problem had recently been neatly solved at the Old Bakery development in Market Street by the use of a mirror and felt that this solution should be investigated. They also urged that renewed effort be made to find a creative solution which might allow the stone building to be used (with some modification) as the garage for Plot 4 by moving the house further east on the plot to take up part of the site of the proposed garage.

The lack of affordable housing was again deplored particularly on a site so close to local amenities including the Co-op and doctors' surgery.

In conclusion, while the Committee acknowledged with some regret that the principle of development on this site appeared to have been accepted and welcomed the improvements on the previous scheme, it could not support the current application until greater efforts had been made to satisfy safety needs without sacrificing the stone building and wall which contribute so significantly to the character of this part of the Conservation Area."