The total number of objections to the proposed Winslow Green development was up to 741 at close of business on 26th February with only 12 letters of support. Friday 27th is the last day for letters to be included in the officers report to the planning committee but AVDC will accept letters right up to the morning of the meeting on 1st April. All letters have to be brought to the attention of the Strategic Planning Committee so do please write if you’ve not done so already.
County Tories ‘scared of the truth’
The controlling Tory Group on Bucks County Council prevented the Lib Dems from speaking at last weeks Budget settting meeting because they are afraid of hearing the truth says Winslow Lib Dem Councillor Llew Monger. ” At the public hearing of the budget plans a few weeks ago it was obvious that several members of the Tory Cabinet simply didn’t understand their brief let alone the potential consequences of the budget they were putting forward. Time after time they were unable to answer questions posed by members of the Liberal Democrat opposition team” At the Budget meeting of the full Council last Thursday the Tory Chairman prevented the Liberal Democrats from having any proper opportunity to debate the budget resulting in a walk-out of all the Lib Dem Councillors. ” This is what happens when you get a virtual one- party state which has ruled uninterupted for 120 years. The appaling Tory mismanagement of recent years has left us with a Council which still has as many employees as it did when Milton Keynes was part of the County. There has been no effort to manage staff levels down to an appropriate level and we are now faced with massive redundancies to catch up. This is an awful situation for the staff who will be losing their jobs and the local residents who will be having to put up with reduced services.”
Lib Dems slam Tory snub to democracy
Liberal Democrat County Councillors led by Cllr Mary Baldwin, the Liberal Democrat leader at Bucks CC, walked out of the Budget debate at the County Council last Thursday following a heated exchange on the right of the Liberal Democrats to speak in the annual Council Tax setting debate. Cllr Baldwin said “we have objected to the way the Council meetings were run for a long time even making a formal complaint after the November meeting to the Monitoring Officer. That time it was after a series of Council meetings where the Liberal Democrat’s were not being given a chance to speak. I was reassured then that it would not happen again by the head of legal services. However yet again the Chairman was biased against the Liberal Democrats and stopped us from taking part fully at one of the most important meetings of the council – the annual budget meeting.”
Cllr Baldwin continued “The Tories have one rule for themselves and one for the opposition. The Tories have been in power for 120 years, and just ride roughshod over our democratic right to hold them to account for how they are spending tax-payer’s money. The Tory action meant we could not represent out constituents properly. We had no alternative but to leave in an attempt to make them realise that democracy is vital and that we represent the voice of about 65000 residents of Buckinghamshire. It is our job to make sure that their voices are heard and we were prevented from doing this. The Liberal Democrats view is that we were telling them home truths and hitting them where it hurts and exposing the devastating affect on frontline services this budget would have and they didn’t like listening to the truth.”
The Tories have since claimed that the Liberal Democrats were electioneering. “This is not the case and is an insult to democracy” said Liberal Democrat Councillor Julia Wassell who represents part of High Wycombe, “as an opposition it is our job to challenge the leadership and make sure decisions are based on fact. The budget meeting is one of the most important of the year and for the Chairman to clearly favour the Tories and not let the Liberal Democrats speak is outrageous.” Cllr Raj Khan said “We had held several meetings on the 3.9% budget figure and knew the outcomes of this would be service cuts which we are against. For the leader to change that budget to 3.7% without notice in his speach, while excellent news, makes us very worried about what services that are going to be slashed to reach this figure.” -ends-
Market Square protest against Winslow Green
A large group of local residents and Councillors, including Winslow Town Mayor Denis Corben and Deputy Mayor George Langley gathered in the Market Square on Saturday morning to protest against the proposed Winslow Green development. The Chairmen of both Little Horwood and Great Horwood Councils were also present. Placards were waved and leaflets distributed to local residents in what was a good natured protest. As one resident pointed out it was all very well mannered and the protesters all made sure they had appropriate car park tickets before getting involved!
Cllr Llew Monger, who had organised the demonstation, said ”The principle aim was to bring to peoples attention the fact that they only have until Friday 27th to get letters of protest in to Aylesbury Vale’s Planning Department if they are to be included in the officers report to members of Committee” The application to develop 3,300 homes, offices and retail centres will be heard by the Strategic Development Committee on 1st April. Cllr Monger went on to say ”already there have been hundreds of letters of protest but there are hundreds more people who oppose the development but have not yet written to AVDC to say so. We really need everyone who cares about the future of Winslow and the Horwoods to send their written comments to AVDC by 27th”
Winslow Green – Write a letter today!
Over 700 people have attended public meetings in the Horwoods and Winslow to hear about the proposed Winslow Green development and out of all four meetings only two people have expressed support for the proposals. However, saying NO at a meeting is just not enough. We need everyone who went to the meetings, and many more, to write a letter to AVDC.
Don’t leave it to others
WRITE A LETTER TODAY
Written objections should be sent to;
Mr Anthony Barker, Development Control Division, AVDC, 66 High St, Aylesbury, Bucks HP20 1SD,
quoting reference 08/02944/AOP.
Your objection should be based on planning reasons and could include some of the arguments below:
· 95 % of the development would be on ‘greenfield’ land.
· It would destroy the rural nature of Winslow and the Horwoods
· The scale of the development is entirely out of proportion to Winslow. It would be a ‘New Town’ and would totally overwhelm our community.
· It would take 15 years to build and cause huge disruption. The proposed relief road may not be completed until 2019 to aggravate the disruption still further.
· The 3300 houses and proposed office blocks would generate over 22,000 vehicle movements each day which would cause further pressure on the already congested A413 and A421.There is no evidence that the relief road would help Winslow in any way.
SAVE THE WINSLOW WE KNOW AND LOVE
All local councils oppose Winslow Green
Over 600 people have attended public meetings at Winslow, Great Horwood and Little Horwood over the last two weeks and at each meeting residents sounded an emphatic NO! to the proposed Winslow Green development. These meetings have been followed by all three local Councils voting to oppose the development. The next stage of the process will be for the planning application to be heard by the AVDC Strategic Development Committee on 1st April where the local councils will have an opportunity to to present their case for opposing the scheme.
GROUP AGAINST GREENWAY MEETING
A further meeting will be held at 8.15pm in the Winslow Public Hall on Tuesday 10th February to organise on-going opposition to the proposed development. The meeting is being organised by the Group Against Greenway and supported by the Winslow Protection Society. This is a great opportuntity for those who have missed the earlier meetings to catch up on what is being said about the application and to hear what practical steps they can take to oppose it.
POST BOX SAVED!
The Victorian Post Box in Winslow’s Market Square has been saved. Royal Mail had closed the box and intended to remove it. Following complaints Llew took this up with Royal Mail and they have now managed to repair the box ‘in situ’ and it will remain there for the forseeable future. Well done Royal Mail for responding to local action.
Committee says ‘NO’ to Winslow Green
The Development Committee of Winslow Town Council have voted to recommend to the full town council that they formally oppose the application to build 3,300 houses on the site of the former Little Horwood Airfield. The full council will discuss this recommendation at a specially convened meeting in the St Laurence Room on Wednesday 4th February at 7.30pm when this will be the only item on the agenda. This decision follows a packed public meeting at the Winslow Combined School attended by some 400 residents. It was standing room only when Cllr Llew Monger, Chairman of the Development Committee, addressed the meeting and explained the background to the proposal and indicated the general feelings of the Committee. Members of the committee joined Llew on stage to answer questions from residents after the presentation. ” I was impressed with the quality and range of the comments ” said Llew after the meeting. Residents could have been excused for takling a ‘nimby’ attitude but, in a vote at the end of the meeting, those present made it clear that while they were opposed to the Winslow Green development the vast majority accepted that Winslow should take some further growth in the future.
This development proposal will be discussed by the AVDC Strategic Development Committee at a meeting on either 11th March or 1st April with the latter date looking more likely. Watch this site for an update on this.
UPDATE – MARKET SQUARE POST BOX
I’ve had further discussions with Royal Mail and they have now agreed to try to repair the post box. This means that it will have to be removed and taken to their local workshops so needless to say I’m concerned about whether it will ever come back! It does seem, however, that Royal Mail have an agreement with English Heritage ”for the retention of all boxes in operational service at their existing locations..” Obviously the key point is whether it is classed as being in operational service.
I’ve been told that in the event that the box can’t be repaired Royal Mail would provide a replica of a Victorian ‘Penfold’ Post box in its place but it seems to me that no replica could ever be as good as a properly restored original. My suggestion of using a local specialist to repair the box has been rejected as Royal Mail say that repairs can only be carried out by ROMEC, their own in-house engineering section. It’s interesting that it’s the same section of Royal Mail which gets to decide whether or not it can be repaired. I’ve asked for an independent opinion to be taken as one man’s impossible job might be anothers opportunity to show his range of skills!
Winslow crime down
Crime in Winslow was down 29% during November and December compared with the same period last year. There were no public order offences and there is no doubt that the Dispersal Order in force in the town centre has contributed to that. One town centre resident has told me that since the order came into force his life has changed out of all recognition. Dispersal Orders usually only last for six months and can be difficult to get extended beyond that period but I know that the local police team would be keen to have at least a six month extension. That would take us through the Spring and early Summer when there is every chance that anti-social behaviour could escalate with warmer weather and lighter evenings. It would also be good to get the area extended to cover the Churchyard. Although recent damage to the Church can’t be directly attributed to young people who had been moved on from areas such as Greyhound Lane Car Park it could only help to extend the area.