I AM writing to set the record straight concerning a building site which was the subject of a story that you published on your website under the headline “Developer’s house is 7cm off the planning blueprint”.

In 2013 we granted permission for the change of use of 229 Cowley Road to student accommodation and the erection of a dwelling on land to the rear.

The building work has commenced on the dwelling to the rear, but we established that it was out of position by 700mm (70cm) and not 7cm as your paper initially reported.

There are also the following discrepancies which have caused us to ask for a retrospective application.

  • The planning conditions attached to the original permission were not fully discharged before work commenced.
  • The red line plan which showed the site area subject to the permission was not correct; as a result the level of parking shown on the approved drawings could not be provided. The repositioned building also had an impact on how parking could be provided on site.
  • The dwelling house ‘as built’ is higher and wider than approved, and the single storey extension is higher, wider, and longer than approved.
  • The architectural detailing is not as approved. The detailing at eaves is not as approved and the eaves are also higher. The stone banding is in a different position to that shown. The gable in the front elevation is of a shallower pitch.
  • he windows in each elevation of the building do not match the approved plans either, being in a different position or of differing size.
  • There are internal changes to the layout of the building.

Overall these all amount to significant breaches of their planning permission and mean that the building is unauthorised.

Andrew Murdoch, Principal Planner, Oxford City Council

Today’s letters

 

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