At the end of the Public Enquiry into Gladman Developments application to build 200 houses at Shipton the Planning Inspector promised that she would give her decision by week commencing 29th March. We heard nothing so chased the Planning Inspectorate at Bristol and were advised that 12th April was the new date. Within an hour we had another call to say that 12th April would not be met but no revised date was given. Let’s hope that we will hear by the end of April.
HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH GLADMAN DEVELOPMENTS
Gladman Developments, who’s application to develop Winslow Green was roundly rejected by local residents and planners alike is at it again. This time it’s a proposal to develop 200 dwellings on land between Little Horwood Road and Shipton hamlet. So far as we know this is one of the few pieces of land that they actually own, rather than just have options on, and it may be that they think a development here will help recover some of the vast sums they spent on the Winslow Green application. At the time of writing we are aware that the application has been submitted to AVDC but details have not been received by Winslow Town Council. A public meeting will have to be held in September to allow residents to see the plans and comment on them so we’ll publish details as soon as possible.
It would be wrong to comment on the application at this stage but if you want to see what Winslow Town Council thinks about possible future development in general then go to www.winslowtowncouncil.gov.uk and look at the TC’s response to the AVDC Local Development Framework – Core Strategy consultation. No doubt we will be bearing this in mind when responding to the Gladman application.
APOLOGIES – BEEN HAVING A REST!
Just a note to apologise for the gap in items being posted to the website – sometimes you just need a bit of a break. Back to normal now though with plenty of stuff to comment on in the next few months.
WINSLOW GREEN DEVELOPERS GIVE IN!!
In a surprise move the would-be developers of Winslow Green have advised AVDC that they will not be appealing against the decision to refuse planning permission. This is great news for Winslow and the Horwoods but also for all communities in this part of rural North Bucks. However, it does indicate that Gladman Group are likely to pursue a new proposal to develop 250 homes on land between Little Horwood Road and Shipton hamlet. Llew has already expressed concern about this possible development as the land in question in included in the AVDC Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment as being suitable for 1,000 houses. Llew has persuaded the Town Council to hold an Open Day on July 11th when residents can see and comment on all possible development sites. More details on this coming soon.
Great effort but not quite enough for Llew
The full result of the County Council Election in Winslow was as follows.
Conservative 1553
Llew Monger 1225
UKIP 437
Commenting on the result Llew said ” I’d like to thank everyone who supported me on Thursday and assure them that I will continue to work hard for the benefit of local residents. Our returns show that we won the vote in the Town but not in the Villages which make up half of the County Division”
There is a long agenda of issues to be tackled in Winslow and the surrounding area and the Liberal Democrats will be active on all fronts. If you’d like to help Llew and the local Liberal Democrats in future campaigning you can contact us through this website or call Llew on 07808 096513.
Possible Housing sites revealed
Aylesbury Vale District Council have posted a report on their website which lists all sites being considered for possible housing development in the coming years. They didn’t bother to tell the Town Council or indeed any of the Parish Councils involved that the report was there so how are people supposed to know about it?
The real shocks are the possibility of 1,000 houses on land between Little Horwood Road and Shipton hamlet and the potential sale of the Sports fields at the Winslow Centre for even more housing. Commenting on the report Llew says, ”Just when we thought we’d seen off Winslow Green and its 3,300 houses we now find we have another massive potential development on our doorstep. As to the Winslow Centre land it’s disgraceful that anyone should even think about selling off sports fields for housing. I would be strongly opposed to any development here and I imagine most residents would feel the same”
The 120 page report covers the whole of the Vale and asseses sites as to how suitable they are for potential development. In our area sites are considered in Padbury, Great Horwood and Winslow but only the latter are included in the detail of the sites listed as ‘suitable for residential development’. It is important to note that no applications have been submitted for these sites as yet but the detail is as follows
|
Reference |
Location | No. of dwellings | Comment |
| 125/002 | South of railway / east of Furze Lane | 240 | Subject to Transport Assessment andprovision of facilities and suitable linksrequired to overcome distance fromtown centre |
| 125/006 | Former Gas board Site Station Road | 5 | Ground conditions require investigation. |
| 125/008 | Land East of Little Horwood Road | 1,000 | Subject to Transport Assessment andprovision of facilities and suitable linksrequired to overcome distance fromtown centre and transport |
| 125/009 |
Glebe Farm, Verney Rd West of Langley Close |
38 | Suitable if facilities provided indevelopment of site 125/001 toovercome distance from town centre |
| 125/011 | Former School playing field west of Winslow Centre | 70 | Suitable if developed in association with Site 125/002. Subject to TransportAssessment |
TO VIEW THE FULL 120 PAGE REPORT FOLLOW THIS LINK.
http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/GetAsset.aspx?id=fAAzADkANgAxAHwAfABGAGEAbABzAGUAfAB8ADAAfAA1
Llew will be raising this issue with the Town Council at the earliest opportunity and will ensure that the residents of Winslow have a proper opportunity to comment.
Lib Dem storms from 3rd to 1st in Wycombe By-Election
The Liberal Democrat candidate, Steve Guy, had a sensational victory in a Wycombe District Council By-Election on Thursday when he gained a seat from Labour in a two member Ward where the other Councillor is a Conservative. Steve won with 733 votes (up 38.1%) the Conservatives polled 408 (down 8.32%) and Labour trailed in with 214 (down 29.79%). Clearly voters in Bucks are no more impressed with the local Tories than they are with Labour and this result augurs well for Liberal Democrats in the up-coming County Council Elections on June 4th.
UNAMIMOUS REFUSAL OF WINSLOW GREEN APPLICATION
At it’s meeting yesterday the Strategic Development Committee of AVDC voted unanimously to refuse the application for the Winslow Green Development. A string of speakers representing local councils, special interest groups and local residents condemmed the application on a wide range of grounds with only the developers Agent speaking in favour. This was followed by all but one of the Committee speaking on the subject and all of them were opposed.
Commenting after the meeting Cllr Llew Monger, who had addressed the committtee on behalf of Winslow Town Council, said ”This was the perfect result today and shows the power of public involvement. Over 1000 people have written to object and over 700 attended public meetings during the build-up to to today. However, whilst we have won this battle the war is probably going to continue. The developers have six months in which to register an appeal and in the past they have indicated that that is just what they will do. We will now have to turn our attention to other possible applications for large local developments while we wait to hear what the Winslow Green people intend to do.”
WINSLOW GREEN -AVDC OFFICERS REPORT RECOMMENDS REFUSAL!
The Officers Report, prepared by senior AVDC Planner Tony Barker, is published today and recommends REFUSAL of the Winslow Green application. Whilst this is what we hoped and expected there is no doubt that there is a great comfort factor in reading the detailed reasons for refusal. This report will go to all members of the AVDC Strategic Planning Committee which will meet at 1.00pm on Wednesday 1st April to consider the application. Members of the public are able to attend the debate which will be held in the Maxwell Hall at the Aylesbury Civic Centre in order to accommodate the numbers expected to attend.
Reasons given for the recommendation of refusal include the following; Conflict with Regional Spatial Strategy, intrusive development into the open countryside onto a Greenfield site, harm to the character and appearance of Winslow, failure to protect and enhance the environment, the adverse impact of the development on the vitality and viability of Winslow as a local shopping centre, traffic impact and inadequate provision of non-car modes of transport. All in all a pretty thorough demolition of the application!
You can read the full report by clicking on the link below but please allow time for it to load as it is 60 pages long!
End of Dispersal Order may bring more anti-social behaviour
The Dispersal Order which police have been operating in Winslow since last September expires on 19th March and there is real concern among many residents that disorder and anti-social behaviour levels could return to the levels we experienced last Spring and Summer. The order gives police the power to move on groups of people and has been particularly effective in stopping the mass gatherings of young people in Greyhound Lane Car Park. A side effect inititally was an increase in vandalism in the Churchyard and whilst this may not have been directly related it would have been better if this area had been included in the original dispersal order.
NEW EXTENDED DISPERSAL ORDER?
Following conversations with local police Llew Monger has written to Thames Vally Police and AVDC to support the idea of renewing the dispersal order for a further six months. Commenting on the situation Llew said ” An extension would see us through the Spring and Summer when the lighter nights and warmer weather have, in the past, brought problems with large groups of young people. The Town Council are working toward the provision of a Multi-Use Games Area and a Youth Shelter which would also help cambat anti-social behaviour by giving young people more things to do in the town.”