HS2 Consultation extended

The consultation on the Environmental Statement has been extended to 10 February after HS2 Ltd failed to distribute 877 pages of documents from electronic versions of the consultation documents. The company had claimed it had corrected the errors by 16 December, but the Commons Standing Orders Committee was told that errors still persisted. HS2 said it was happy to comply with the ruling but claimed:

“The pages that were briefly missing from the Environmental Statement memory sticks would not have prevented anyone from being able to respond to the consultation.”

Stop HS2

HS2 Ltd; HS2 Ltd. 

Wilton Park

Wilton Park redevelopment consultation opens

South Bucks Council has opened its consultation on the development brief for the ex-MoD site at Wilton Park.  

The consultation ends on 28 February. You can access the plans and a response form on the South Bucks website. 

Chalfont Holy Cross

Chalfont Holy Cross plans approved

 

Controversial plans for nearly 200 new homes and a care home on the site of the former Holy Cross Convent have been given the go-ahead on appeal. The scheme was unanimously thrown out by Chiltern council last year, but a planning inspector has now approved the scheme.

A major issue was the loss of trees on the site. The inspector concluded: “I am satisfied that there would be a sufficient presence of remaining mature trees as well as replacement planting… to ensure that the character of the surrounding areas… would not be harmed by the loss of trees.”

The inspector also disagreed with objectors who had complained that the size of apartment blocks was out of character with the area. She recognised the disappointment residents felt over the poor consultation over the scheme by the developer, but said “there is no binding imperative on the [developer] as to how such consultation should be carried out.”

Chiltern planning committee chairman Don Phillips said: "This appeal decision starts our New Year on a disappointing note.”

Appeal decision.

Bucks Free Press. 

Marlow Flooding

Marlow in the forground with the bridge over the Thames, the flooded fields go all the way to Bourne End in the background.
Click on the picture to enlarge.

Stoke Poges

Stoke Poges free school thrown out by South Bucks

 

In a decision that is almost bound to end up being challenged in the courts, South Bucks council rejected plans to convert an office block in Stoke Poges into a secondary free school. The Khalsa Secondary Academy would largely have served residents of nearby Slough.

The application had been made under the government’s new permitted development rights championed by Michael Gove. These allow conversion of buildings to free schools without planning permission but applicants must apply for the council’s prior approval of a number of matters.

South Bucks Council threw the application out on the grounds that the applicant had submitted insufficient evidence for the application to be assessed. In particular, it had failed to demonstrate provision for pick-up and drop-off demand and failed to make adequate provision to allow non-car access.

The site is currently occupied by the Sikh faith secondary school, which moved into the site in September for one academic year under different permitted development rights.

Local Berkshire.

Get Bucks.

South Bucks District Council. 

Aylesbury Plan

Green fields threatened as Vale of Aylesbury Plan thrown out

 

A government planning inspector says he wants to throw out the Vale of Aylesbury Plan. He argues that the Plan, which has been some years in preparation, does not allow for enough housing. Aylesbury Vale council had planned for 3,850 new homes and a minimum of 6,000 new jobs by 2031. The inspector says that this is not enough.

Inspector Kevin Ward said that Aylesbury Vale has failed in its legal duty to cooperate with neighbouring councils over housing numbers. Milton Keynes wants to expand into Aylesbury Vale and Luton borough says that it can’t accommodate all the housing it needs within its area. The implication is that Aylesbury Vale must now plan for higher housing levels.

The council has no realistic choice other than to withdraw its current plan and it is likely to do this at the beginning of February. This will lead the district open to unplanned housing developments. Developers will be able to argue that the area does not have an up-to-date local plan and that it has failed to identify a five year land supply for housing. They can then cite the National Planning Policy Framework, which says in this situation the presumption in favour of sustainable development applies. In these circumstances, planning inspectors routinely approve housing plans regardless of the wishes of local councils and communities.

A public inquiry into three housing schemes totalling 3,000 homes at Hampden Fields, Fleet Marston and Weedon Hill on the outskirts of Aylesbury finished in December. No one should now be surprised if these schemes are approved under the presumption in favour of sustainable development, even though they conflict with the draft Vale of Aylesbury Plan.

Developers have been bidding to build over green fields around Winslow. Gladman Developments is now likely to appeal over the refusal of a scheme at Shipton, and push for housing schemes elsewhere around the town. It is a moot point whether the draft Winslow neighbourhood plan will offer any protection in the new circumstances. There is also a question whether the neighbourhood plan can be completed until the level of housing needed in the Vale of Aylesbury is resolved.  

Inspector’s letter to Aylesbury Vale council.

Bucks Herald.

 

HS2 - Colne Valley

Approximately one hectare of ancient woodland will be lost in the Mid Colne Valley. One of the two breeding sites for the pochard duck for in this area will be lost, and corn bunting habitat will be lost from farmland between the M25 and the A412 Denham Way/North Orbital Road.

The 3.4km Colne Valley Viaduct over the Mid Colne Valley SSSI will have a 3m high noise barrier along part of the western edge. The Colne Valley HS2 Community Forum had requested that a tunnel be constructed to pass beneath the lakes between Ruislip and the M25 but this was rejected as it would also require the extension of the Chiltern tunnel southwards. The entrance to the tunnel is in a cutting and will have a porous portal – a perforated concrete box that extends out from the tunnel entrance to reduce noise and ease air pressure changes. Half a hectare of hardstand will be provided for maintenance and emergency access.