13 Cumnor Hill redux: my comments

Here are the comments I submitted in April 2015 to the most recentl application for flats on 13 Cumnor Hill. And this was no April Fool’s joke! And I intend to follow up on the request in my last pargraph.

APPLICATION WEB COMMENTS FORM
Location : 13 Cumnor Hill Oxford OX2 9EU
Proposal : Demolition of existing dwelling and annex. Erection of a part two-storey,
part one and a half storey principal building containing 6 x 2 and 1 x 1 bed flats and a
one storey building containing 1 x 2 bed and 1 x 1 bed flats. Improvements to
existing access and provision of 9 parking spaces. Cycle parking, bin storage and
landscaping. (Re-submission of refused application P13/V1860/FUL)

Cllr Debby Hallett
01 April 2015
I write as the local member of the Vale council for this area.

VOWH has adopted a new Design Guide within recent weeks, and the section
on rural and lower density areas explicitly pertains to Cumnor Hill. Those design
criteria are a valuable checklist with which to evaluate this application. Height,
mass, how this design will fit into the area, density, parking location and
screening and design principles, etc. are there to ensure our communities’
development is managed well. This highly visible development must conform to
the Vale’s design standards.

Car parking on this corner of Hurst Rise Road and Cumnor Hill has been a
problem for years. Our County Councillor, Janet Godden, working on behalf of
local people, managed to get the county to provide that white stripe on the
kerbs nearest the corner, to ‘suggest’ to drivers that they park further back from
the intersection. These days, the west side of Hurst Rise Road is nearly always
parked up, essentially turning HRR into a one-lane road there. It’s at best a
nuisance, at worst, a danger. This corner needs to be double yellow striped.
That would improve the safety of any access to this property from HRR.
I object to this application on the grounds that it doesn’t confirm to our Design
Guide, parking there is dangerous (although that could be addressed), height
and mass and scale are inapprorptiate for this area, and the buildings are too
close to the neighbours.

Please could the Vale publicly address the issue of the oft-repeated request
from parish council(s) and residents for a proper drainage study for Cumnor Hill
area? What would be the cost of that? What approaches has the Vale
considered, and why has nothing been done or discussed? Does the Vale
agree that it would be agood thing to do?