FINAL approval is being sought for 37 homes on the edge of ancient woodland which were previously quashed by the High Court.
In July 2017, a judge revoked planning consent for the development at Rushy Bank, just outside Charlbury.
West Oxfordshire District Council (WODC) had approved the plans in November 2015, however the decision was successfully challenged by conservationists following strong resistance.
A High Court judge ruled that the planning permission should be revoked, however the application was reapproved by WODC – subject to a legal agreement – in January 2020.
In November, conditions including specification details, a surface water drainage scheme and construction management plan, were refused.
Read again: Homes on edge of ancient woodland hit stumbling block
The design, demolition and constructions of trees was another condition turned down, with a refusal notice from WODC reading: “The council is not in a position to discharge any of the conditions because there are discrepancies and omissions on the submitted plans and information.”
Since then, another application for the approval of conditions has been submitted.
If approved, it would allow progress to be made on the construction of 25 homes and a 12-bedroom supported living facility.
An objection comment, dated February 7, from Friends of the West Oxfordshire Cotswolds claims there are ‘continuing discrepancies and conflicts’ with the scheme.
The comment adds: “This application confirms that the consented scheme failed to make allowance for the specified five-metre woodland buffer.
“The application attempts to retrospectively design the buffer in part by appropriating and deforesting sections of woodland both within and outside the application site.
“Furthermore, the felling on the site and in the adjoining woodland has significantly altered the proposed development’s landscape setting.”
Felling at the site began in early November, with a notice from Cornbury Park stating: “The poplar trees in this woodland have reached the end of their growing cycle.
“This area will be replanted with native trees and thorns.”
An ecological management plan states: “The common areas within the site (roads and landscaped areas) will be controlled by a management company in the future years to ensure that the areas are maintained in an appropriate way to be of benefit to the residents of the site, and to ensure that the ecological and biodiversity enhancements continue to provide suitable habitat.”
An environmental management plan adds: “Nearly all trees are outside the actual site boundary but the suggestion is to use a five-metre protection zone offset from the trunks of any trees to be retained.”
Rushy Bank lies in the Evenlode Valley, in the Cotswolds Area of Natural Beauty, 400 metres from the edge of Charlbury.
To view the application for the discharge of conditions, use the reference number 22/00254/CND on the WODC planning portal.
The original planning application can be viewed using the reference 15/03099/FUL.
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