LIB DEM SUCCESS – LLEW TOPS THE POLL!

In Thursday’s AVDC election in Winslow Ward Llew Monger topped the poll and gained a seat for the Lib Dem’s from the Conservatives. unfortunately Llew’s running mate, Trish Cawte, was a little behind and the second Winslow seat was retained by the Conservatives. (Full result below)

It was a bad day for the Buckingham Constituency Tories overall who lost three seats in total with Waddesdon falling to Llew’s Lib Dem colleaugue David Vick and one of the Buckingham South seats falling to Labour candidate Robin Stutchbury.

Commenting on the result Llew said, ” Obviously I’m delighted with my result, though sad that Trish didn’t take the second seat. Although the results are not declared separately it was clear that we were both well ahead in Winslow but the Conservatives polled higher in Padbury and Adstock which allowed them to take the second seat. I want to thank all those who supported me and will now get on with the job of representing Winslow Ward at AVDC and ensuring that our voice is heard in Aylesbury.”

The full result for Winslow was,

Bates, Jonathan	UKIP	245
Cawte, Trish	Liberal Democrat	773
Gomm, Phil	UKIP	238
Monger, Llew	Liberal Democrat	982	Win
Renshell, Susan Linda	The Conservative Party Candidate	918	Win
Strain-Clark, Peter Edmund Dixon	The Labour Party Candidate	251
Wigley, Duncan Charles Alan	The Conservative Party Candidate	832

GOOD MORNING, TODAY YOU CAN MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE.

Good morning. I hope we didn’t wake you too early while delivering our final campaign message this morning – if we did then sorry.

There are three good reasons why you should vote Liberal Democrat today.

1. Llew and Trish work hard all year round for Winslow as members of the Town Council. They’re not just here at election times. Both live in Winslow and are easy to contact for help and advice.

2. Neither Labour nor UKIP can win here today. They rarely field candidates and when they do they are always at the bottom of the Poll. Neither of these candidates live in Winslow

3. We have been badly let down by Conervative Councillors who have failed to attend important meetings. The new candidate doesn’t even live in Winslow.

The other way you can make a difference today is by voting YES in the Referendum. The change to AV is a small step that would make a big difference.

VOTE LLEW MONGER AND TRISH CAWTE FOR AVDC AND YES IN THE REFERENDUM

SHIPTON INQUIRY RESUMES

The Public Inquiry into proposals to build 175 houses on land between Little Horwood Road and Shipton resumed in Aylesbury on Tuesday. Llew took time out from the local election campaign to attend the opening session and formally deliver the submission that he’d prepared on behalf of the Town Council which is opposed to the development. The Inquiry is expected to conclude this evening (Wednesday) and the Inspector will then study the mountains of evidence which have been submitted and deliver his decsion sometime during the Summer.

Tory Tales

Tory Tales 1

One of the Tory Candidates is telling voters that the Town Council is going to build a noisy Skateboard Park on land at the Winslow Centre. This is quite untrue and causing undue concern to residents in Park Road and Avenue Road. The Town Council do hope to provide a new multi-use games area at the Winslow Centre but this will not include a Skateboard Park. We’d really like to be able to provide such a facility but can’t find a suitable piece if land where the noise levels wouldn’t cause annoyance to local residents.

Tory Tales 2.

The same Tory candidate is allegedly telling people that the Lib Dems stopped her from being co-opted to Winslow Town Council when there was a vacancy. Well, the fact is that the Town Council is non-political, she doen’t even live in Winslow and the interview panel felt there was a better local candidate with much wider experience. Hopefully that’s what voters will think on Thursday 5th too!

Let down again by local Tory Councillors

The petition against car parking charges organised by local resident Ruth Ash generated over 2,000 signatures so Aylesbury Vale District Council were obliged by their own rules to debate the issue last week. Ruth was allowed 5 minutes to speak in support of the petition and did a great job. It was then the turn of the members of AVDC and our two local Tory Councillors, Duncan Wigley and Lindsay Rowlands had preference to speak first. The only problem was they weren’t there! A special debate about Winslow and neither of our District Councillors turned up ! It was left to a Liberal Democrat Councillor from Aylesbury to lead the support for our campaign to keep parking in Winslow free of charge.

Apart from having the debate about parking charges in Winslow this meeting included the annual budget setting which fixes our Council Tax for the next year. So, not only were we not represented in the debate but there was no input from Winslow about our Council Tax. Hopefully Winslow residents will remember this when they go to the ballot box in May!

Shipton enquiry delayed again.

The Public Enquiry into Gladman Developments proposal to build 175 houses on land between Little Horwood Road and Shipton hamlet will not now resume until 3rd May. The enquiry should have concluded this week but a decision was awaited in a case which could have an impact nationally. Although the judgement was given on 9th February the legal teams for Gladman and AVDC need time to consider its impact and prepare their case. It appears that the case in question may go to the Court of Appeal so there could be a further delay in our enquiry beyond May3rd.

How should our town grow?

Here’s your chance to have your say about future housing development in Winslow.

The Coalition Government is changing the method of planning for future growth so that communities get to have a far greater say in the level of new housing development. Because of this Aylesbury Vale District Council is just starting to create a new long term development plan for the next twenty years which will reflect what local communities like Winslow say is reasonable. If we assume that there will be approriate improvements to infrastructure (roads, schools, local employment. leisure and health facilities) what do YOU think would be acceptable? Please complete my survey in the right hand panel of this page and if you want to give more detail write to me at llewmonger@btinternet.com .

SHIPTON PLANNING ENQUIRY ADJOURNED UNTIL FEBRUARY

After just one and a half days the planning enquiry into proposals to develop 175 houses off Little Horwood Road has been adjourned. The Inquiry has been adjourned to await the outcome of legal action being taken by a national housebuilder, Cala Homes, against the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government regarding the approach to be taken nationally to the interpretation of regional planning policies. This case relates to another part of the country but the judgement will have national significance. The outcome of this action is expected in mid January and the Shipton enquiry is scheduled to reconvene on 14th February next year.

The Inspector was able to hear evidence from two expert witnesses called on behalf of Gladman Developments as the areas on which they were commenting are not covered by the legal action. Gladman called a landscape expert who presented his views on the suitability of the site and an urban design expert who discussed the possible layout of the site. Two of the key issues for the enquiry are the suitability of the site and the question of whether Little Horwood Road forms a clear boundary to the eastern edge of Winslow such that any development beyond this would be development in the open countryside.

I have submitted a statement to the Enquiry on behalf of the Town Council and will get to speak to this when we resume on 14th February. You can see this statement at Submission by Winslow Town Council to Shipton Enquiry

Roadworks, roadworks, roadworks. What’s going on?

You can’t have failed to notice that there are quite a lot of roadworks going on in Winslow at present. All of the work is ‘off-site highways improvements’ related to the Banner Homes development off Verney Road. As part of the planning consent for the development Banner are obliged to pay for these works which are designed to compensate for the extra traffic which will be generated from the development. They are not allowed to sell any houses until the works are completed and paid for.

The main works are in Verney Road, Vicarage Road and Burleys Road with some additional work in the High Street and on Buckingham Road. New parking bays in Verney Road and Burleys Road and a traffic island where Burleys, Verney and Vicarage Roads meet are part of the plan as well as a slight widening of Vicarage Road and two pedestrian refuges at crossing points. On Buckingham Road there will be a Vehicle Activated Sign to remind drivers of the 30mph limit and some re-alignment of the road markings to give the impression of the road being narrower which apparently slows down traffic. Let’s hope it does. The parking protection ‘build-outs’ on the High Street are likely to be the most contentious parts of the work. The highways engineers believe that these works together with new white-lining will slow and improve traffic flow on the High Street. It will also make it much safer to be on the pavement outside the Co-oP and the butchers. If the Co-oP delivery vehicles go to the rear of the store which they could, and should, then the scheme should be to everyone’s benefit.

The work will stop on 6th December and start again on 10th January and is expected to be finished sometime in March. Only when all of the work is completed will we be able to judge how successful it is so let’s be patient and hope that the highways engineers have got it right.

Developers offer £3million community benefits package

The planning enquiry into the proposed development of 175 dwellings between Little Horwood Road and Shipton will start at 10.00am on 7th December at, The Oculus, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF. The previous application for this site was refused and the Town Council and AVDC continue to oppose the proposals despite some amendments by the developer.

Before the enquiry concludes the Planning Inspector must receive details of what conditions AVDC would apply and what community benefits the applicant would provide IF he were to grant permission. We understand that Gladman Developments are proposing a package which has an estimated value of around £3,000.000 and includes the following.

£1.2 million subsidy for a new half hourly bus service to Milton Keynes

£1 million (est) contribution for Secondary Education (This goes to the County Council – not Winslow)

£100k contribution to the Primary Care Trust for improvements to Winslow’s health centre and Norden House surgery

£500k towards a new Community Centre (This would add to the £600+k that the Banner Homes development will deliver)

£100k for traffic calming in Elmfields Gate, Magpie Way and at Shipton hamlet. (subject to a residents survey)

£100k in contributions for Library and Adult Education provision (again this would go to Bucks County Council – not Winslow)There would also be a play area and youth shelter on the development, and a contribution to future on-site landscape maintenance.

This is an attractive package of potential benefits for the town and would go some way to off-set the impact of the development if permission is given. However, residents have made it clear that they do not wish to see more major development and in any event this is not a suitable site. Little Horwood Road forms a clear boundary to the East of Winslow and we are concerned that if permission were granted here then we could be faced with more applications for development right up to the railway line.

The Town Council have over £600,000 to come in ‘off-site leisure contribution’ from Banner Homes in respect of the Verney Road Development and this, together with a possible £500,000 if the Shipton development were given permission would cover the basic cost of a new, purpose built community centre. With a potential 20% increase in the size of the town there is no doubt that a new purpose built facility would be a real benefit to the community. However, even if the offer was for twice as much it still wouldn’t; change the basic planning issue and that is that development beyond Little Horwood road would constitute ‘development in the open countryside’.

If the Planning Inspector decides to approve the application we will have to ensure that all of the proposed community benefits are actually delivered.