Carter Jonas, acting on behalf of a landowner, has secured full planning permission for a brownfield site on Howard Street, located in Oxford city centre.

The land comprises of 15 garages with considerable residential development potential due to their location in the city centre and existing infrastructure and services. The planning application sought to gain approval for the demolition of the garages and the erection of three single storey buildings. Each building will provide one or two bed dwellings, with the provision of an amenity space, bins and bike storage.

Key to securing the planning permission was the principle of development. Oxford City Council received a number of objections during the consultation period relating to the loss of garages. The garages are privately owned and therefore could be taken out of use without any planning permission being required. There is no local policy that seeks to retain or protect buildings of this type and according to the Oxford City Council, they are not considered community assets in planning terms. The access to the existing garages is also narrow and unlikely to be able to accommodate modern vehicles. The emerging local plan for Oxford City Council seeks to limit the opportunities for parking within the city, this is to decrease car use. Therefore, the removal of the garages is in line with the overriding principles of the emerging plan and specifically Policy M3. There were also a number of other constraints to overcome, including the houses being used for multiple occupation.

For further information, please contact a member of our team:

Huw Mellor
Partner, Planning & Development
01865 255166
Huw.Mellor@carterjonas.co.uk