Site: PR23 Land at junction of Langford Lane/A44, Begbroke Site … · Site: PR23 Land at junction of Langford Lane/A44, Begbroke Site size (ha): 14.71 Site description A single,

Site: PR23 Land at junction of Langford Lane/A44, Begbroke Site size (ha): 14.71

Cherwell Green Belt Study 75 April 2017


Site description

A single, rectilinear arable field to the south of the junction between the A44 Woodstock Road and Langford Lane, bounded by strong treed hedgerows to the south and east.

Relationship between site, settlement and countryside

The site abuts a very short length of the inset settlement edge of Begbroke to the south, and lies close to development within the Green Belt along Evenlode Crescent, but is visually quite strongly separated from both by tree cover. More intervisible development at London Oxford Airport is separated from the parcel by Langford Lane. The A44 and Langford Lane create a physical distinction between the site and the wider countryside to the west and north, but there is strong intervisibility with both, including views from the A44.

Parcels

The site is assessed as one parcel of land.



Looking south-west from Langford Lane.

Parcel: PR23 Parcel area (ha): 14.71



Harm to Green Belt resulting from release

Contribution to Green Belt purposes

Comments RatingScenario

CommentsPurpose

Potential alternative Green Belt boundary

The parcel edges along the A44 and Langford Lane would form a strong Green Belt boundary, but in isolation this area would have little connectivity with inset settlement areas.

Purpose 2: Preventing merger of settlements

Purpose 3: Safeguarding countryside

Purpose 1: Checking sprawl of Oxford

Development here would relate to the expansion of either Begbroke or Kidlington, not Oxford. Therefore the parcel plays no role with respect to this purpose.

There are no inset Green Belt settlements to the west or north of the parcel, and Woodstock is the nearest town beyond the Green Belt, over 2km away. Development of the parcel would have a significant effect on the size of Begbroke as perceived from the A44, and so have some impact on the overall gap between Woodstock and Oxford, but would not be perceived as significantly reducing the gap between the settlements

The parcel is sufficiently distinct from nearby settlement areas to function as an area of countryside in its own right, but its relationship with the wider countryside is limited. It is visually linked to, but physically separate from, the countryside to the west, with the A44 forming a strong distinction between flatter ground to the east and land rising up to wooded hills to the west. Land to the north at London Oxford Airport, including arable fields beyond the runways, forms a very visually open landscape but is separated from the parcel by Langford Lane. Conversely, open land to the south-east is separated from the parcel only by hedgerow tree cover.

Purpose 4: Preserving Oxford's setting and special character

The area has insufficient relationship with Oxford to be considered to contribute to its historic setting or special character.

Purpose 5: Assisting urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land

All parcels are considered to make an equal contribution to this purpose.


Moderate highRelease of PR23 Release of this area from the Green Belt would represent encroachment on an area that currently has no urbanising features, although also a limited relationship with the wider countryside. It would weaken the adjacent Green Belt land to the south (assessed as parcel PR74) and east by introducing further containment, which would in turn further reduce the contribution of those areas to Green Belt purposes.



Harm to Green Belt resulting from partial release of site Harm to Green Belt resulting from release of whole site


Site: PR24 Begbroke Lane, North East Field, Begbroke Site size (ha): 19.40



Site description

A fairly flat, rectilinear, arable field with hedgerow and tree boundaries which vary in strength. The hedged Begbroke Lane byway forms the southern boundary. The south-western portion of the site adjoins the inset settlement edge of Begbroke, whilst the north-eastern corner of the site is approximately 30m from the urban edge of Kidlington (at Oxford Motor Park).


Built development abuts the site in a number of locations, with the inset edges of Begbroke to the south-west, inset development at Oxford Motor Park to the north-east and washed-over buildings of the Campsfield House Immigration Detention Centre and National Tactical Response Group training centre to the north. Outline consented development of Oxford Technology Park will occupy the rest of the northern edge. There is only weak separation between this development and the site. The site lies adjacent to open land to the north-west, but connectivity with the wider countryside in this direction is reduced by containing roads, the A44 and Langford Lane. The parcel also abuts open land to the east, but the inset edge of Kidlington begins across the Oxford Canal 200m away. The strongest link to the wider countryside is to the south-east, where mostly arable farmland forms a continuous belt down to the edge of Oxford.

Parcels

The site is assessed as one parcel of land.



Looking north-west from Begbroke Lane byway towards trees screening the Immigration Detention Centre, with airfield buildings in the background.







CommentsPurpose


The parcel edges are no weaker than existing boundaries. Extension of the area to include the arable field to the south would provide a stronger southern edge, making Rowel Brook a consistent Green Belt boundary with Begbroke, but would leave only a narrow Green Belt gap between Begbroke and Kidlington. Extension of the area eastwards, to include fields with a house and piggery, would result in a stronger boundary, as land beyond is designated as a SSSI.




Development here would relate to the expansion of either Begbroke or Kidlington, not Oxford. Therefore the parcel plays no role with respect to this purpose.

Development in this parcel could result in coalescence between the inset employment area at the north-western edge of Kidlington and the inset village of Begbroke, and would also result in greater isolation of land to the north currently forming part of the Green Belt: the proposed Oxford Technology Park, land around Evenlode Crescent and, to a lesser extent, land at the junction of the A44 and Langford Lane (assessed as site PR23).

The extent of built development around this parcel limits its role in preventing encroachment, and development of Oxford Technology Park would limit this impact further, but the parcel is nonetheless undeveloped and open in its own right, with a rural land use.


The area has insufficient relationship with Oxford to be considered to contribute to its historic setting or special character.




HighRelease of PR24 Release of this area from the Green Belt would result in the coalescence of two settlements and would weaken the remaining strips of Green Belt around it, within the area contained by the A44, Begbroke, Kidlington and Langford Lane (assessed as parcels PR22, PR74 and PR20a, and also the fields immediately to the east of the site). The impact on the countryside within the wider Green Belt would be limited, but the field constitutes a sizeable area of rural land in its own right, in which development would represent encroachment.

ModerateRelease of south-western corner of PR24 (see ratings map at end of site assessment)

A limited release of land adjacent to the edges of Begbroke but retaining an open corridor to the north would cause less harm to adjacent Green Belt land.





Site: PR27 Land North of The Moors and East of Banbury Road, Kidlington Site size (ha): 36.02



Site description

Arable farmland on the gently sloping upper edge of the Cherwell valley to the north of Kidlington. The larger part of the site is contained by a railway line to the west, and by largely tree-covered floodplain to the north, whilst a smaller area lies between the railway and the Oxford Canal, on land sloping downhill to the west. Further arable farmland (assessed as site PR14) separates the site from the edge of Kidlington to the south.


In the western and central sections of the site the slope of the land away from the residential edge of Kidlington combines with the physical farmland gap to create some separation from the urban area. However, visual containment of the main part of the site by tree cover reduces its relationship with the rest of the Cherwell Valley.

Parcels

The site is assessed as two parcels of land: PR27a is the area to the east of the railway and PR27b the smaller field to the west.



Looking west towards St Mary's church, along the hedgerow boundary with PR14.

Parcel: PR27a Parcel area (ha): 28.38






CommentsPurpose


A weak hedgerow marks the southern edge of the parcel, but topography adds some distinction other than at the flatter eastern end of the parcel. The northern edge of the site is defined by floodplain rather than physical landscape features, but plantation woodland lies just beyond it, with the River Cherwell beyond. The railway line to the west and flood-zone woodland to the east are also strong boundaries.




Development here would relate to the expansion of Kidlington. It would not be considered sprawl of Oxford. Therefore the parcel plays no role with respect to this purpose.

The parcel is not close to any settlement other than Kidlington, and so plays no role with respect to this purpose. The small villages of Hampton Poyle and Thrupp to the north are separated from the site by woodland and by the River Cherwell and the railway respectively.

Largely sloping away from Kidlington, and separated from it by further fields, the parcel contains no development and has a rural character. It forms an outer part of the Cherwell valley, but has strong separation from the wider countryside by woodland to the north and east, and the railway line to the west.


The parcel makes a minor contribution to rural character of the approach to Oxford along the Cherwell valley area, but is too far from the City to play a significant role.



Parcel: PR27a Parcel area (ha): 28.38

Moderate highRelease of PR27a, together with PR14 Release of the parcel in isolation would enclose the fields to the south within the urban area, so release of PR27a would also necessitate release of site PR14. Release of any part of PR27a would represent an encroachment on countryside, and PR27a together with PR14 represents a sizeable area of undeveloped countryside, but containment of the area by tree cover, floodplain and the railway line would limit impact on the wider Green Belt, despite the parcel’s relationship with the Cherwell valley. Any release of land would be better defined by physical landscape features than the floodplain edge – i.e. the plantation/field boundaries just beyond.



Looking south from public footpath in central-eastern part of parcel, towards commercial buildings on the dge of Kidlington.

Parcel: PR27b Parcel area (ha): 7.63






CommentsPurpose


The A4260 to the west and woodland to the north would form strong boundaries to a Green Belt release, and the railway line too if PR27b was released but PR27a was not, but the parcel is also separated from the urban edge by the A4260, which forms a strong boundary at present.




Development here would relate to the expansion of Kidlington. It would not be considered sprawl of Oxford. Therefore the parcel plays no role with respect to this purpose.

The parcel is not close to any settlement other than Kidlington, and so plays no role with respect to this purpose. The small village of Thrupp to the north is separated from the site by woodland and by the Oxford Canal.

The parcel has some visual relationship with commercial development at Oxford Spires Business Park, which forms the northern tip of the Kidlington inset urban area, but is separated from it by the Oxford Canal and A4260. Although its physical boundaries – road, railway and tree cover – create separation from the wider countryside, and the road and railway have some urbanising influence, it is also separated from the urban edge.


The parcel adjoins the Oxford Canal, a historic approach to the City, but this area north of Kidlington is too far from the City to play more than a minor role in Oxford’s wider setting.



Parcel: PR27b Parcel area (ha): 7.63

ModerateRelease of PR27b Development in this area would have a weak relationship with the urban edge, although less so in association with release of PR27a, and would represent encroachment beyond a significant boundary: the railway line. However the parcel’s containment by strong landscape elements and the urbanising effects of road and rail, would limit the harm that this would cause to the wider Green Belt.



Moderate highRelease of PR27, together with PR14 Release of the site in isolation would enclose the fields to the south within the urban area, so release of PR27a would also necessitate release of site PR14. Release of any part of PR27 would represent an encroachment on countryside, but containment of the area by strong physical boundary features would limit impact on the wider Green Belt.

Scenario RatingComments

Harm to Green Belt resulting from release of site



Site: PR29 Land at Shipton on Cherwell Site size (ha): 2.23



Site description

The site consists of an area of land between residential dwellings, which in itself is only c.0.5ha in size and therefore too small for strategic development, together with a curved linear belt of land, the course of a former railway branchline, which is almost 700m long but only 20-30m wide and largely embanked and tree-covered. Shipton-on-Cherwell is washed over by the Green Belt.


The land between residential dwellings has a strong relationship with the settlement, contained within the same hedgerow/garden boundaries and distinct from the arable field to the west. The former railway line wraps around the northern edge of the settlement, but its form makes it very distinct from the settlement: a linear, wooded landscape element which continues westwards most of the way to Woodstock.

Parcels

The site is assessed as one parcel, as the two distinct elements are separately too small to qualify as strategic sites.



Looking west from public footpath close to Jerome Way, towards north-western edge of Shipton-on-Cherwell.







CommentsPurpose


Most of the parcel consists of the treed embankment of a former railway line. This has the characteristics of a strong boundary feature in its own right, with little scope for a dual role as both a parcel of developable land and a Green Belt boundary. The hedgerow boundary to the west of the remaining part of the parcel marks a clear distinction between the village and arable farmland.




Development here would relate to the expansion of Shipton-on-Cherwell, not Oxford. Therefore the parcel plays no role with respect to this purpose.

Development of the site would have a negligible impact on settlement gaps.

The parcel has a strong relationship with the village in terms of its location, but the form and vegetation of the former railway line mean that it has a distinctly separate character which relates more strongly with the westward continuation of the feature. The parcel therefore provides some protection against encroachment.


The character of the Oxford Canal as an approach to the City contributes to its historic setting, but the course of the former railway, with the remains of its bridge over the canal, is no more than a passing feature of interest.




HighRelease of parcel PR29 Development of the site would result in a negligible change in the physical extents of Shipton-on-Cherwell, but the evident distinction between the constrained, linear form of the majority of the parcel and the form of existing housing means that any development in this area would relate poorly with the village, and so would constitute significant encroachment on the countryside.Shipton-on-Cherwell has a historic core to the south and west that in character, form and density is appropriate to its washed-over status, alongside modern development with a more urban form to the north-east (Jerome Way), but the village is small and there is no strong distinction between the two areas. Any release of Green Belt would therefore weaken the Green belt contribution of the older part of the settlement.





Site: PR30 Oil Storage Depot, Bletchingdon Road, Islip Site size (ha): 13.30



Site description

A disused fuel dispersal depot on the upper eastern slopes of a low hill to the north of Islip, adjacent to the settlement edge at the southern end of the B4027 Bletchingdon Road and the railway station. Bletchingdon Road and the railway line define the site to the west and south, and field boundaries form the other edges. A number of small dilapidated buildings, lighting towers and other structures are dotted throughout the site, with most being linked by a tarmac road, and there is some small-scale commercial use in the south-western corner. The village of Islip is entirely washed-over by the Green Belt.


The site has a fairly weak relationship with the settlement, abutting village-edge houses along only a very short frontage. The railway station buildings are separated from the site by the railway line, and these buildings in turn are separated from the main body of the village by an open field. Structures and surfacing associated with the site's former use detract from countryside character but have a negligible impact on its openness or its strong visual relationship with the wider countryside, particularly to the east.

Parcels

The site is assessed as one parcel of land, and is also assessed as part of parcel PR209e.



Looking north-east from the entrance to the former oil storage depot on Bletchingdon Road.







CommentsPurpose


In the event of an isolated release of Green Belt, Bletchingdon Road would form a relatively strong boundary, and a farm track and fairly dense hedgerow create a moderately strong boundary to the north, but the eastern boundary, on land sloping down into a shallow valley, is weaker. The railway line on the southern edge of the parcel is a strong boundary, marking some distinction from the village core.




Development here would relate to the expansion of Islip, not Oxford. Therefore the parcel plays no role with respect to this purpose.

The parcel lies to the north of Islip. Development here would not reduce the gap to Kidlington, the nearest settlement, and would have minimal impact on the large gap between Islip and the village of Bletchingdon.

The housing in the vicinity of the parcel has a more modern character than the village core, representing a degree of sprawl, but the parcel's detachment from the settlement core and its strong sense of visual openness mean that it relates more strongly to the countryside than to Islip. Development within the parcel would therefore represent significant encroachment into the countryside.


Islip is some distance from Oxford, but the rural character of the approach to the City along the Cherwell valley still contributes to its historic character. However the parcel is too small and too closely associated with Islip for development to be likely to represent any significant intrusion.




HighParcel PR30 Development here would represent strong encroachment on countryside. In character, form and density, the core of Islip to the south of the railway line is commensurate with its washed-over status, and the current extent of development to the north of the railway is insufficient to significantly affect this. The railway line could provide sufficient distinction for a release of land to the north only, leaving the bulk of the existing village in the Green Belt.





Site: PR32 Land adjoining 26 & 33 Webbs Way, Kidlington Site size (ha): 3.45



Site description

Two fields on the edge of Kidlington, separated by a dense tree line. The outermost is subdivided into grazing paddocks.


The southernmost field is abutted by the inset settlement edge on three sides: Webb's Way to the east, Mill Street to the south and Spindlers to the west. Development at the end of Mill Street is open in character, whilst that on Webb's Way and Spindlers is denser in form. The dense tree line provides a moderately strong barrier to the northern field, which has only a broken line of trees to provide separation from the wider countryside to the east but has stronger vegetation to contain it to the north and south.

Parcels

The fields are individually too small to accommodate strategic development, and so are assessed as one parcel.



Looking west, from public footpath, across the southern end of the site towards houses on Webb's Way.







CommentsPurpose


The inner field's boundary tree line is a stronger physical feature than the broken outer tree line, but the outer boundary also approximates to the floodplain edge, which strengthens its role in distinguishing between the settlement edges and the broader Cherwell valley.




Development here would relate to the expansion of Kidlington. Therefore the parcel plays no role with respect to this purpose.

The parcel is not close to any settlement other than Kidlington, and so plays no role with respect to this purpose. The small village of Hampton Poyle to the north is separated from the site by the Cherwell valley, with its associated floodplain.

The southernmost field is contained by inset development on three sides, and so has a stronger relationship with the settlement edge than the surrounding countryside. There is little visual distinction between the outer field and the adjacent Cherwell Valley.


The parcel has insufficient relationship with Oxford to be considered to contribute significantly to its historic setting or special character, but its relationship with the Cherwell valley, an important historic approach into Oxford, means that visible development could have some detracting influence in terms of the wider rural setting of the City, particularly in the context of the parcel's location adjacent to the oldest part of Kidlington.




Low moderateRelease of PR32 The release of this area would not represent any significant expansion of the settlement form, and would be contained to the north by the Cherwell valley floodplain. The Green Belt contribution of the adjacent grazing pasture to the north, also contained between the settlement edge and the floodplain, would be weakened, but this would have little impact on the wider Green Belt.





Documents

Site: PR23 Land at junction of Langford Lane/A44, Begbroke Site … · Site: PR23 Land at junction of Langford Lane/A44, Begbroke Site size (ha): 14.71 Site description A single,