Plans submitted for micropub at Oxford Covered Market

Micropub: Plans have been submitted to Oxford City Council for a bookshop/micropub at the Covered Market.

Submitted by Gulp Fiction, a design and access statement says an empty unit will be converted to a bookshop/micropub, comprising seating, sale of alcoholic and soft beverages, and books on the ground floor.

The statement adds: “On the first floor, there will be more seating and books, but the only point of sale will be on the ground floor.”

A statement of heritage importance reads: “As Gulp Fiction will be operating as a pop-up, we will leave the historic features untouched.

“Both ethically and in practice, we ‘make do’ with the space we are given and we will not seek to change the character of the unit permanently. Any changes we do make will be reversible.

“Apart from the reactivation of the mains water supply, we will not carry out any major works.”

Reference number: 21/03537/FUL

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Mental health unit: Plans for a mental health unit at Warneford Hospital in Headington have been submitted.

The proposed annex will house a new Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, linked to the existing Highfield Unit.

A design and access statement reads: “This unit will function as both a broadening of the facilities provided by the Highfield, but also act a separate service with its own primary access.

“The proposed unit will offer services to children and young people between the ages of 12-18.

“The current Highfield unit does not have the capacity to take on intensive care patients and there is a growing need to help treat an increasing number of children and adolescents with severe psychiatric illness as in-patients in specialised units.

“Given the existing Highfield Unit on this site, it is prudent to extend the existing building to provide these urgent mental health care facilities, allowing a unity and wealth of experience across the unit.

“If planning permission is not forthcoming, in the short-term the requirement to provide this service locally will be fatally delayed for a service that is already in increased demand.

“The requirement for the extra beds and facilities is required in order to meet local demands.

“The unit provides the opportunity for the Highfield to have higher priority cases on site where they have a full facility and wealth of staff knowledge to provide an excellent service to the local community.”

Warneford Hospital has been a mental health hospital since1813.

Reference number: 21/03480/FUL

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School changes: A three-storey building consisting of a kitchen servery, classroom and learning support department has been approved.

The application, submitted by Magdalen College School, will see the partial demolition of an existing three-storey link building between the existing sports hall and an academic block.

The design and access statement reads: “There is a desire to provide improved shared teaching, learning and social spaces, including an enlarged kitchen and servery extension, alongside a more suitable space for learning support and a refurbishment of the staff room.

“It is considered that these spaces could not be accommodated within the existing building envelope.

“Kitchen and servery facilities at the school are currently undersized and there is a requirement to expand.

“The kitchen will expand into the existing servery footprint and the servery will occupy the ground floor of the new link extension.

“This will improve the quality of the serving and dining experience as well as speeding up the process of serving staff and pupils.

“The current senior common rooms are made up of a series of small rooms that feel disconnected, have very poor acoustics, and which have become overcrowded and are in need of a new lease of life.

“The new senior common room will be extended across the first floor, taking over student learning support.

“This will provide a big open welcoming space, creating several flexible environments for different uses including social space, work space, quiet study and a new kitchenette.

“At first floor level, a new classroom will be provided in the link extension.”

For the latest planning applications in Oxford, visit the city council website.