Speedwell House	
Linda Rand/Michelle Jarvis
Planning, Housing and Economy
Cherwell District Council

		Speedwell Street 
Oxford 
OX1 1NE

Tel: 01865 815700
Fax: 01865 815085

31 January 2008	
My ref:  8.1/5126/1	  	Direct line: 01865 810432	
Please ask for:
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  Linda Currie		e-mail:  linda.currie@oxfordshire.gov.uk	

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Dear Linda/Michelle

Application no 07/02291/OUT: Proposed New Settlement and Associated facilities, Heyford Park, former RAF Upper Heyford - Response of the County Council as Structure Plan Authority

The County Council’s Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development has considered the report on the above application (previously sent to you), following which there is an addition to the recommended response relating to the views of the local member for Bicester South. The Council’s formal views are as follows:

“ The County Council as Structure Plan authority informs Cherwell District Council that: 

a) on the basis of current information, it objects to the development proposed in application no: 07/ 02291/OUT on the grounds that:

I.	the proposed development would be likely to generate inappropriate employment opportunities in terms of scale, type and location across the site outside the settlement area, contrary to the Revised Comprehensive Planning Brief (RCPB) and Structure Plan policies G1, G2, E1, E3 and H2, and which could prejudice the achievement of the strategic policy objectives for Bicester in the Structure Plan and draft SE Plan strategy for Central Oxfordshire;

II.	 the proposed development would be likely to have adverse transport    impacts, contrary to principles of sustainability in policies G1, G2, T1,T2,T5, T8, H2 and R2;

III.	the proposals and the accompanying Base Management Plan, together with the proposed mechanisms for the future management and maintenance of facilities would fail to deliver and maintain the scale of environmental improvements required by the RCPB and Structure Plan policies G1, EN2, H2 and R2;

IV.	The County Council is not confident that the range of transport and non-transport items listed in the applicants draft heads of terms and the scale of the overall package would be sufficient to mitigate the full impacts of the development and achieve a satisfactory living environment for the residents in accordance with Structure Plan policies G3 and H2; 

b) if the District Council is minded to approve the application, it should be satisfied that the scale of employment is justified enabling development and planning permission should be subject  to:

I.	personal occupancy conditions on the use of retained buildings and land on the airfield for employment purposes where permission is to accommodate an existing businesses operating under temporary permissions;

II.	legal agreements to secure a satisfactory package of necessary improvements to highway and transport infrastructure, services and facilities, an HGV routeing agreement and the implementation of a robust Travel Plan to mitigate the impact of the development in line with Structure Plan policies G3 and H2;  

III.	funding for the implementation of an agreed Base Management Plan overseen by a single Management Committee to deliver the bio-diversity objectives and other environmental improvements to the site; 

IV.	measures to identify how a minimum of “very good” Ecohomes rating would be met and monitored.

c) the local member for Bicester South, Councillor Charles Shouler, is particularly concerned about the likely impact of traffic generated by the proposed development on to the rural road network through Middleton Stoney and the need for traffic calming measures to mitigate the impact.”

The views of the County Council as Highway Authority and the Developer Funding team will be forwarded separately to you in the normal way.

Yours sincerely

Linda Currie

For Head of Sustainable Development

Cc Jenny Barker – Cherwell DC
AH