Vistry Cotswolds have just been granted reserved matters permission for residential development of 370 homes along with allotments, community provision and extensive open space on land at Gosford, Kidlington.
CSA has been involved in the project since 2017 and helped to prepare the outline application for Barwood Development Securities with inputs from our ecology, landscape, masterplanning, heritage and arboricultural teams. Collaborative working within CSA enabled creation of an integrated design which was sensitive to the various constraints and policy requirements of the area. Cross-discipline working was particularly important for the calculation of Biodiversity Net Gain as inputs from all disciplines was crucial for ensuring the Site could deliver net gains for biodiversity. This required a sensitive approach for the retention of existing tree, hedgerow and pond habitats, as well as design of a significant country park-type area of open space in the south with new tree, scrub and woodland planting, also linking into strategic cycle and footpath networks.
During preparation of the reserved matters application, the CSA ecology, landscape and arb teams worked closely with the client and design team to ensure that the detailed design continued to meet strict requirements for open space, habitat creation and biodiversity net gain. Given tight timescales required for determination, our multi-disciplinary team was able to respond rapidly to any consultee comments and ensure updates were rolled out across all reports and drawings without delay, particularly where there needed to be updates to the Biodiversity Net Gain calculations as a result of landscape/design changes. There was close consultation with Cherwell District Council to ensure that the final design was acceptable to all consultees and would be practical and deliverable over a 30 year period. Over the course of the project CSA experienced ecologists navigated changes to the scheme design and Biodiversity Metric, with the new Statutory Metric being used for the Reserved Matters application to ensure consistency with the current mandated approach to BNG. Metric calculations were based on robust baseline data, and through accurate assessment of grassland condition and interpretation of BNG guidelines were able to demonstrate a 53% net gain in habitat units for the final scheme.
Cherwell District Council were able to grant permission for the scheme with confidence that positive outcomes for people, places and nature could be achieved.