West End planning advice and guidance adopted
The West End and Osney Mead Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)
This is a planning policy document that aims to bring together overarching design principles for the large number of developments – each with different landowners – that are happening in the West End of Oxford. The aim is to coordinate public realm improvements, infrastructure, transport and movement and design across the area.
The comments received during the public consultation, together with the proposed changes to the document and supporting evidence, were discussed at the meeting of Cabinet on Wednesday 16 November.
The West End and Osney Mead SPD was prepared following:
- initial consultation with local people in March and April 2021, which helped to inform the vision for the area
- ‘visioning workshop’ hosted by urban design consultants Levitt Bernstein in the summer of 2021, which included key stakeholders, amenity groups and landowners to help develop the vision for the West End
- public consultation on the draft document from Wednesday 29 June 2022 until Wednesday 10 August 2022
Cabinet decided to adopt the SPD, together with the Spatial Framework and Design Guide, subject to the changes proposed, which will now be used as a ‘material consideration’, alongside adopted Local Plan policies, in determining future planning applications within the West End area.
Cabinet also agreed to revoke the Oxpens SPD (2013) and Station SPD (2017), which are now superseded by the adoption of the West End and Osney Mead SPD (2022).
Councillor Alex Hollingsworth, Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing Delivery at Oxford City Council, said:
“The City Council set out the main planning policies for this area in the Oxford Local Plan 2036; the new SPD fills in the detail of those policies and shows the huge potential that exists for these important city centre sites.”
Jeremy Long, Chair of the West End Strategic Board, said:
“The West End is rare in having institutional land owners aligned and coordinated, with the long-term stewardship of the sites and the city in mind. To fulfil its exceptional promise and take Oxford’s success to the next level, we will now work with central Government partners to accelerate infrastructure delivery and the opportunity to grow tax revenues. The SPD supports landowners to work together across sites, and to lever in private investment to help finance and deliver a dynamic place and imaginative mix of spaces, in this sustainable location”.
To read the documents, please visit: West End and Osney Mead SPD | Oxford City Council
