OX Place’s proposals are a departure from the local plan

Bertie Park has been on local plans for over 30 years with a condition stating:

“Planning permission will only be granted … if the existing Bertie Place recreation ground, including a replacement Multi Use Games Area, is re-provided on land in Plot B.” (SP32)

OCC say this reflects Policy G5 of the Oxford Local Plan, which aims “to protect existing sports and recreation facilities and require that where such facilities would be lost that they are replaced to an equivalent or better standard” (Planning Statement 2026). It also reflects policy 104 of the National Planning and Policy Framework (NPPF):

Stuart Moran, Senior Development officer of OX Place (construction company wholly owned by Oxford City Council) says it is just not possible to re-provide Bertie Park on plot B because of the prohibitive cost of remediation of site B, lack of surveillance/Thames Valley Police objections and loss of biodiversity. So OCC and OX Place jointly decided that the MUGA and play facilities should go on Bertie Place A “to ensure local access to play facilities, natural surveillance from adjacent dwellings and enhance safety for all users.” The council says this is “the most appropriate use of land” (Planning Statement 2023), justified “on planning grounds” as enabling “Bertie Place B to be enhanced as publicly accessible open space in a manner compatible with its constraints, delivering equivalent or improved provision in terms of usability, quality and accessibility.” OCC therefore conclude that their proposals are “in full accordance with Policy SP32 of the Oxford Local Plan and therefore the principle of development on this allocated Site is established” (PS 2026).

But when the current plans were submitted in May 2023 OCC put up public notices stating: “The proposed development does not accord with the provisions of the development plan in the area in which the land to which the application relates is situated, namely policy SP32” (notice)

There has since been a second consultation, in which proposals were also publicly advertised as a departure from the local plan.