Agenda and minutes

Apologies for adsence were receiced from Councillors Felix Bloomfield, Stefan Gawrysiak, David Rouane, Les Sibley and Ian Snowden.

Councillor John Howson substituted for Councilly Gawrysiak and Councillor Ian Middleton substituted for Councillot Rouane.

Councillor Constance felt it important to make her position clear on the Committee. Councillor Constance was, until May 2021, the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, responsible for promoting the HIF1 scheme. Councillor Constance continued that case law showed that even Members who had expressed clear views historically could and should take part in the consideration of planning applications, unless they were unable to exercise their decision making with an open mind and to weigh all considerations in the light of the debate having not predetermined how to exercise their vote with an open mind. Councillor Constance confirmed that she was attending with an open mind and therefore intended to take part.

Councillor Bennett declared that he has a role as Deputy Leader for South Oxfordshire District Council and some of the portfolio included some responsibility for Didcot Garden Town. Councillor Bennett was attending the meeting with an open mind.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 5 June 2023 (PN3) and to receive information arising from them.

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th June 2023 be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Members of the public who wish to speak at this meeting can attend the meeting in person or ‘virtually’ through an online connection.

To facilitate ‘hybrid’ meetings we are asking that requests to speak or present a petition are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting i.e., 9am on Tuesday 11 July 2023. Requests to speak should be sent to committeesdemocraticservices@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

If you are speaking ‘virtually’, you may submit a written statement of your presentation to ensure your views are taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9am 2 working days before the meeting. Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

There had been 26 requests to address the Committee and two written statements, which had been published on the Council website.

The speakers were as follows:

Mr Charlie Hopkins

Mrs Gwendolyn Mockler

Councillor Emily Kerr (Oxfordshire City Council)

Ms Vicky Johnson

Mr Ng Chien Xen

Dr Angela Jones

Councillor Charlie Hicks (Attending on a personal level)

Mr Nick Fielding

Mr Mark Beddow

Dr Caroline Baird

Mr Robin Draper

Mr Greg O’Broin

Councillor Sarah James (Vale of White Horse District Council)

Ms Zuhura Plummer

Mr Chris Hancock

Mr Roger Williams

Sam Casey-Rerhaye

Mr Chris Church

Mrs Frances Reid

Mr Richard Tamplin

Mandy Rigault

Mrs Victoria Shepherd

Ms Debbie Davies

Mr Emmanouil Mavrikis

Mr Owen Jenkins

Councillor Duncan Enright could not attend the meeting.

The written statements had been received from Mr Andy Holding and Mr Ian Palmer.

·       The dualling of the A4130 carriageway (A4130 Widening) from the Milton Gate Junction eastwards, including the construction of three roundabouts; 

·       A road bridge over the Great Western Mainline (Didcot Science Bridge) and realignment of the A4130 north east of the proposed road bridge including the relocation of a lagoon;

·       Construction of a new road between Didcot and Culham (Didcot to Culham River Crossing) including the construction of three roundabouts, a road bridge over the Appleford railway sidings and road bridge over the River Thames;

·       Construction of a new road between the B4015 and A415 (Clifton Hampden bypass), including the provision of one roundabout and associated junctions; and

·       Controlled crossings, footways and cycleways, landscaping, lighting, noise barriers and sustainable drainage systems.

Report by the Director of Planning, Environment and Climate Change

It is RECOMMENDED that, subject to the application first being referred to the Secretary of State to consider whether they wish to call it in for their own determination, planning permission for R3.0138/21 be approved subject to conditions to be determined by the Director of Planning, Environment and Climate Change, to include those set out in Annex 1.

The Director of Planning, Environment and Climate Change, Rachel Wileman, introduced the report and provided a presentation which included plans and photographs relating to the planning application for a major highway development, comprising four parts:

·       The dualling of the A4130 to the east of Milton Gate towards Didcot

·       The construction of a bridge, known as Didcot Science Bridge, and a single carriageway road that will connect the A4130 to Collett Roundabout via a route that crosses the former Didcot A Power Station Site

·       A new, single carriageway road between Didcot and the A415 which would include a bridge over the Appleford Rail sidings and a bridge and viaduct over the River Thames and Bridge Farm Quarry, and

·       A Bypass for Clifton Hampden, which would connect the A415 with the B4015 via a new route to the northwest of Clifton Hampden

The proposed development also included a new, continuous walking and cycling network along its length as well as related highway infrastructure such as roundabouts, bus stops, lighting, and drainage infrastructure and landscaping.

Further points raised by the Director of Planning, Environment and Climate Change included the following:

·       The delivery of the HIF1 Scheme, if permitted, would be part-funded by a £240 million Housing Infrastructure Fund grant from Homes England. However, Members were reminded that the availability of the grant was not a material planning consideration. Members were therefore advised to disregard the availability of the funding in their consideration of the planning application.

·       The nature of the application as one submitted under Regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992, as amended. This meant that the County Council was both the applicant and the planning authority determining the application. The 1992 Regulations require that the planning application must not be determined by the committee, sub-committee or officer of the council who was also responsible (wholly or partly) for the management of the land or buildings concerned. Members were advised that only officers and their advisors on the regulatory side of the Environment and Place Directorate had been involved in carrying out the planning functions of the County Council in gathering information, assessing the application, and producing the report. Legal officers had also kept a separation of functions, so some had been involved in advising the local planning authority and different officers had advised the applicant.

·       The application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement, and therefore fell under the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Environmental Impact Assessment (or EIA) Regulations 2017, as amended.

o   The application and Environmental Statement were originally submitted in November 2021 and were subject to a statutory 30-day consultation period, ending on 11^th December 2021.

o   A request for further information under the provisions of Regulation 25 of the EIA Regulations were issued by the officers in April 2022 and that further information was subsequently submitted in November 2022. This information was subject to publicity and consultation ending on 24^th December 2022.

o   The applicant voluntarily submitted further information in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21/23