THE REASONS why plans for 480 homes in north Oxford will not go a head yet have been revealed.

The Oxford North development promises the new homes for a site owned by St John's College north of the Wolvercote Roundabout.

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It was approved for building work to start at the end of November, but concerns about the development led 13 councillors to write to Oxford City Council to ask for further scrutiny.

A report about the upcoming planning review on December 16 showed that councillors Wade, Goddard, Gotch, Henwood, Harris, Gant, Landell Mills, Haines, Simmons, Wolff, Roz Smith, Garden and Altaf-Khan asked for Oxford North to be looked at again.

Oxford Mail:

An overhead view of Oxford North. Picture: TWO

Eight issues were raised by the councillors about the development.

These included:

  • the capacity of the A40, A44 and A40 through the development
  • the amount of affordable housing
  • the impact on local heritage
  • the impact on Oxford's view points
  • the design of buildings on the site
  • energy efficiency
  • air quality
  • a mechanism governing how many affordable homes could be built on site

Oxford North promises to bring a total of 480 homes and 4,000 jobs to a site which has previously been known as the northern gateway.

The site is owned by St John’s College, and a development company called Thomas White Oxford (TWO) which is also owned by the college has been behind the plan.

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When the application for Oxford North was approved on November 27 councillors were mainly concerned about two issues.

These were the number of affordable homes on the site, and the increased amount of traffic in the surrounding area which would be caused by the development.