Oxford Science Park Development Stymies Infrastructure

Lack of local infrastructure is stymying the growth of a showpiece science and technology park, which has attracted £100m worth of investment commitments from the Government. Steven Sensecall, Head of Planning at consultancy Carter Jonas, said that plans to expand  Culham Science Centre are being stymied by Oxfordshire Highways effective moratorium on any new development close to the bridge over the River Thames at Culham, which it says is at capacity in highway terms.
Culham Science Centre, which is owned by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, is home to the UK’s civil nuclear fusion research efforts, has plans for a number of new Government-backed facilities.
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He said that Oxfordshire County Highway Authority will not support Culham Science Centre’s development plans, even though the Government has committed over £100m to support new science and technology related development on the site.  

, Sensecall said: “the UKAEA wants to bring forward applications for new science and technology development that will benefit UK Plc but the District Council can’t support the applications because the highway authority says there is no capacity on the road network in the vicinity. We’re trying to develop Culham as an exemplar of science and technology but we can’t get the right infrastructure at the right time.”

He acknowledged that Oxfordshire County Council is preparing a Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) bid to Government to the meet the cost of a new bridge and a Clifton Hampden Bypass but he made the point that the success of the HIF bid is in large measure dependent on progress with the South Oxfordshire Local Plan in that it assumes that Oxfordshire County Council will forward fund the cost of this new infrastructure, a significant proportion of which will then be recovered from strategic development sites, including a planned strategic site immediately to the west of Culham. Sensecall went on to say that “the problem is that the Local Plan is still a year or more from being adopted, which means that the Government to put its hand in its pocket and forward fund these large infrastructure projects if it is serious about Oxfordshire being an engine for growth.”

The Carter Jonas partner said that the headache at Culham is just one example of how an absence of joined up delivery is impeding efforts to bring forward development in Oxfordshire.

Sensecall called for a county-wide joint strategic plan: “It must be right, given the scale of growth proposed across Oxfordshire that we have that strategic level of planning and a more joined up approach to where development and infrastructure should go.” 

Guy Dixon, Head of Property and Portfolio Management at Orbit Developments, told delegates that it has teamed up with a land promotion company to help identify a pipeline of future sites.

The South of England-based housing association has successfully raised £450m last month to support its ambitions to build 20,000 new homes over the next ten years, supplementing the £228m of grants it has been awarded until 2022 by Homes England.

Orbit may also look to continue to purchase section 106 affordable housing, however in order to create a pipeline of sites that will create a more ‘sustainable business model’ he said the association has created three teams of regional land buyers and is investing in projects with a land promotion company. As an example of this more strategic approach he said Orbit has recently acquired a site for 450 homes in Daventry.

Alistair Cory, Director of Oxford University’s Begbroke Science Park, said 70% of the university’s departments report recruitment difficulties even though there had been a 16% growth in the university’s permanent workforce over the past five years.

He said the university’s strategic plan for 2018 to 2023 includes commitments to begin constructing at least 1,000 units of graduate accommodation and a similar number of subsidised staff accommodation units.

Piers Scrimshaw-Wright, Managing Director of Oxford Science Park, told delegates that he expects its recently completed 61,500 sq ft Schrödinger Building to be fully let within weeks, having already achieved pre-commitments on half of the floorspace at practical completion.

He expressed confidence that the third phase of its Magdalen scheme would also be fully let when it is completed in early 2020.

Scrimshaw-Wright said that Magdalen 3 building has secured planning approval and construction is due to commence in January, and an architectural competition had concluded for plot 16, which is close to the site of a mooted station on the recently re-opened Cowley branch line, attracting interest from top name international practices including Perkins + Will, Squire & Partners and Aukett Swanke.

Hannah Watkins, Assistant Development Director of Aster Homes, said the housing association has entered into contracts this month on two new schemes providing 56 homes.  The new schemes are on top of the 650 homes which Aster has already entered into contract on in Oxfordshire. These include 350 shared ownership, 217 affordable rent and 83 social rent properties spread across eight developments. Aster has also completed 322 homes in the county.

William Donger, Director of Thomas White Oxford, said the company’s plans for a new US-style mixed use business park includes 480 new homes and 87,000 sq m business and commercial workspace that would accommodate 4,500 new jobs. This includes Red Hall, a shared workspace for up to 300 freelancers, start-ups and entrepreneurs.
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