An interesting meeting tonight. Oscar is a good chair and keeps things moving along well. Now we are 4 LibDem and 4 Labour members we have agreed, I think, to have alternating LibDem and Labour Chairs. Probably Oscar and Mark. More about Central South and West Area Committee
The main business of the meeting was planning applications. The first was for a replacement mobile phone mast 10cm taller than the existing one that was given permission on appeal by a planning inspector. The committee refused the permission although I refrained from voting, having only just been elected and not visited the site. I also fear the grounds for rejection, given the precedent set by the planning inspector, are weak and that we may get our decision overturned and costs awarded against us.
We also had long and interesting presentations from the planning officers and representatives of Oxford University on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter development. We were just commenting on, rather than determining, the application and we were all wholeheartedly in favour of it. We expressed a desire to take serious action on the safety of pedestrain and cycle approaches to the site, particularly from the West, and I expressed a hope that some of the buildings that will be vacated by the University when departments move into ROQ might be considered for use as further student accommodation.
I met at 9am today with Sara Fernandez and a colleague at G&Ds on Cowley Road. They explained to me how the Oxford Hub is the focal point for charitable activity at Oxford University. Soon, they’re going to bid for a building, at 16-17 Turl Street, so the can open a multi-purpose venue for community benefit.
