Gladmans application for 80 houses off North End Road Steeple Claydon

14/03046/AOP | Outline planning application with access to be considered and all other matters reserved for up to 80 dwellings (Use Class C3) with associated access and all other matters reserved on land off North End Road, Steeple Claydon. | Land At North End Farm North End Road Steeple Claydon Buckinghamshire

Like many Steeple Claydon residents I am firmly opposed to this planning application.  The following are the main grounds for opposition:

a)  a similar application on the same site was refused in 1989 on the main grounds that it involved significant residential development outside the present built up limits of the settlement and the defined village limits onto surrounding agricultural land.  These grounds for refusal have not changed.

b)  last week Eric Pickles as Secretary of State rejected on appeal an application for 211 houses in Winslow on the grounds that they lay outside the settlement boundary, and said that such applications would only be permitted 'in exceptional circumstances'.

c) this development would encroach on open countryside which was defined as 75-90% landscape sensitivity by AVDC
as stated in its 2011 Steeple Claydon fact pack

d) Any decision would pre-empt both the village's own decisions on future growth patterns as decided in a neighbourhood plan, and AVDC's decisions on future housing growth in the new Vale of Aylesbury Plan which is under development.

e) North End Road is a narrow road with parked cars on both sides.  There are two sharp corners and no pavement.
It would be unable to accommodate the increased traffic movements caused by the development and there would be increased danger to pedestrians and cyclists.

f)  The existing surface water drainage and foul sewerage arrangements in North End Road are already inadequate,
with frequent flooding and sewer blockage.  An additional 80 houses would place an unacceptable additional strain on this.

g)  The additional village population would impact on local amenities such as the surgery and Steeple Claydon school which is already over-subscribed in the reception year.  Parking is already inadequate around the Co-Op corner with a dangerous blind bend.

I have requested that in the event of the application being approved by AVDC planning officers it will be referred to the Strategic Development Control Committee for their decision.  If this happens it is likely to be discussed in their January or February meeting.  I am also trying to get the flooding issue taken up for action by the County Council.

Work on East West Rail in the Claydons

Latest update from East West Rail:

Network Rail’s contactors will be undertaking ground investigation, de-vegetation work and structural surveys on the East West Rail line in your area over the coming months. Line-side residents are being informed of this work by letter.

 

Contractors Bam Ritchie and designers Parsons Brinkerhoff have been instructed to carry out ground investigation surveys which will involve drilling of bore holes, and visual and intrusive surveys of all over-bridges, under-bridges and culverts.

 

A temporary site compound is being set up to the north of the railway at Verney Junction on 8^th December and will be active for around 40 weeks. This will include offices with a generator and will also be used for storage and parking (including storage of large machinery) whilst work is being undertaken on the railway. Residents can expect increased vehicle movements including movement of large machinery. The contractors will aim to keep disturbance to a minimum, however, some disturbance may be unavoidable.

 

Ground investigation surveys and various structural surveys will be undertaken along the mothballed section of the route (between Bletchley and Steeple Claydon) from 5^th January for 20 weeks. Work is scheduled to take place during the daytime, Monday-Friday 7.30am - 4.30pm; this may be extended by an hour in spring time and some work may take place on Saturdays during day light. The site will be closed at 6.30pm.

 

There will be different contractors working on the line and several worksites may be set up in various locations between Bletchley and Steeple Claydon.

 

Also, following on from survey and de-vegetation work completed earlier this year between Bicester and Bletchley a second phase of work in this area has been planned which will involve further vegetation management, general maintenance and upkeep of the railway corridor. This work is due to start in December 2014 for completion in Spring 2015 and will be undertaken in normal day time working hours mid-week and potentially over the weekend, by Network Rail’s contractor. A separate site compound will also be set up on Network Rail’s property, with the same working hours as the above.

 

All Network Rail’s contractors working on site have been briefed on working responsibly in the local community and residents will be kept informed about the work taking place throughout the process.

 

If residents have any questions or concerns about the work, they are advised to contact Network Rail’s 24-Hour National Helpline on 08457 11 41 41 or visit www.networkrail.co.uk.

 

Recycling rates continue to improve

Aylesbury Vale is one of the most improved areas in the country for recycling household waste, according to the latest figures released by Defra.

Figures show that the council has increased levels of recycling from 38 per cent (2012/13) to 51 per cent (2013/14).

Aylesbury Vale District Council is the second most improved council in England and Wales when it comes to diverting waste from landfill and into recycling bins.

Looking back at the 2013/14 figures, AVDC collected an additional 5,019 tonnes of food and garden waste and 2,971 tonnes of dry recyclables compared to 2012/13. That's the weight of about 20 jumbo jets.

The increase in the amount of recycling is due to the fantastic efforts of residents who have embraced the enhanced waste collection service since it was introduced in September 2012.

Residents can now recycle a much wider range of materials and AVDC has made it as simple as possible to recycle by allowing dry recyclables such as paper, plastics, cans and glass to be placed in one container.

The improved system is supported by weekly collections of food waste, as well as an optional subscription-based garden waste collection service. All food and garden waste is composted within a 50 mile radius of the Vale.

In 2011/12, Aylesbury Vale had a recycling rate of 21.5 per cent and was one of the lowest-performing areas in the country.

Councillor Sir Beville Stanier, Cabinet Member for Environment and Health, said: “The increase in the recycling levels in Aylesbury Vale has been excellent. Across the district, we have seen how residents have embraced the changes to the recycling system and have drastically reduced the amount of waste which is ending up in landfill. We should all be very proud of such an achievement and for making such rapid progress in such a short period of time.”

Vale of Aylesbury Plan

Following the rejection by the Inspector of the draft Vale of Aylesbury Plan in January, work has started on a new Plan, which will be known as Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP). This will include the overall strategy for the District, alongside site allocations (where needed), and development management policies.

A new Local Development Scheme (timetable) for the new Local Plan has been published and may be seen on the AVDC website at http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/planning-policy/vale-of-aylesbury-local-plan/

Meanwhile the Adopted District Local Plan (AVDLP) of 2004 remains the development plan for assessing planning applications in the district.

Broadband upgrade coming to the Claydons

The Connected Counties programme is targeted with making fibre broadband available to over 90% of homes and businesses in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire by April 2016.   The programme is being funded jointly by both Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire County Councils, the Local Enterprise Partnerships for each county, BT and the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK team (BDUK).

Fibre broadband uses fibre optic cable for at least some of the link between the customer and the exchange.

It is much faster and more reliable than traditional broadband (known as ADSL) delivered via copper telephone lines.

The programme aims to ensure that everyone has access to a minimum of 2 Mbps broadband speeds by March 2016.  Steeple Claydon  and Winslow exchanges are included in phase 3 of the programme, with survey work starting in June 2014  to identify places for the new fibre cabinets. Subject to these survey results, engineering upgrade work will follow and a new fibre cabinet will be installed near to the existing green cabinet.

Roads, pavements and cycle paths

Roads and Pavements

There is around £19m in the County Council's capital budget this year for road repairs (an increase on the last 3 years) enabling the reduction of the maintenance backlog to continue this year.

There is £ 1.7m in the budget this year for pavement repairs. 

New Cycle Path Winslow to Buckingham

The capital funding for this (around £ 500k)  is  included in the Bucks Thames Valley Local Economic Partnership's capital bid to the Government's Local Growth Fund  and the outcome should be known in
July.  Details can be seen in the BTVLEP strategic economic plan  (p73)  at the following link:http://buckstvlep.co.uk/interesting-stuff/research-reports
At the same time, Bucks County Council is bidding for revenue funding to the Local Sustainable Transport Fund:  details can be seen here:http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/environment/sustainability/local-sustainable-transport-fund-2015-2016/

This is a fund designed to encourage a shift to more sustainable forms of transport.
Both bids are linked to the opening of the new Winslow station, projected for 2019.

East West Rail update

East West Rail

On 30^th April Network Rail published their delivery plan for East West Rail.

The Network Rail plan proposes delivery of East West Rail in two phases. Phase 1 will deliver the infrastructure required for Chiltern Railways services between Oxford and London via Bicester as well as the works required for the later introduction of East West Rail services west of Bicester.

Phase 2, which is at an earlier stage of development, will deliver the EWR works east of Bicester to Bletchley and Bedford, including the Aylesbury to Claydon Junction line within this five-year period ending March 2019.

Work involves upgrading the Bicester Town to Bletchley and Claydon Junction to Aylesbury freight line for passenger services; building a new station at Winslow; building new high level platforms at Bletchley Station and minor upgrades to the existing Bletchley to Bedford passenger railway.

On completion, the railway will provide:

-          An hourly passenger service between Milton Keynes and Oxford via Winslow (which may continue to Didcot Parkway and Reading)

-       An hourly passenger service between Milton Keynes and Aylesbury via Winslow (which may continue to Princes Risborough, High Wycombe and Marylebone)

Energy From Waste Incinerator update

Energy From Waste Incinerator     Greatmoor Farm

Phase 1 works on the Greatmoor EfW site continue to progress, including piling, concrete foundations, installation of site drainage and work on the road network around the facility.  

The timelapse camera continues to provide half-hour update photographs at: http://fccenvironment.reachtimelapse.co.uk/greatmoor/

As Chairman of the community liaison group which meets every 3 months I have ensured that the concerns of local villages re traffic, impact of construction vehicles, compliance with planning conditions and environmental concerns relating to the incinerator design are addressed by FCC management.

The A41 access road and roundabout works are progressing with completion scheduled for August 2014.

With the opening of the access road all construction and landfill traffic should be entering the site via the A41

and the Brackley Lane entrance will be closed. This should reduce the impact of HGVs going through the Claydons.

The Shipton Lee Railway Bridge repairs have been completed and the road reopened.

Work of laying the electric cable to connect with the East Claydon substation will begin in the autumn.  A map

of the cable route has been published; it passes via open land to the south and east of Botolph Claydon.

High Speed Two update

High Speed  2

We have reached the stage of petitioning the Hybrid Bill which received its second reading in the Commons on 28^th April.    Petitioning is a final chance of influencing the project and securing improvements.

The petitioning deadline was the 23^rd May.     Petitioners will be invited to attend the HS2 Select Committee – the timetable is yet to be announced.

The Bucks County Council petition can be seen on the 51m group website at http://www.51m.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BCC-Petition-FINAL-BCC.pdf   

The AVDC petition will be published on the council’s website shortly.      AVDC’s petition will pick up on noise issues, construction related matters, ecological and heritage concerns.   Bucks County Council’s petition focuses on route-wide and strategic issues, including highways, waste disposal, and ecological issues.

Key requests relating to this area:

a)        Sustainable placement (spoil dump)  at Calvert

-          consider whether the waste material could be put to alternative uses in the vicinity (e.g. the incinerator site)

b)        A Country Park in the Vale of Aylesbury

-           provision should be made for a country park (and an endowment for its future maintenance and management) in the vicinity of the IMD

c)       Mitigation for the impacts from the Infrastructure Maintenance Depot

-          deliveries of larger and bulkier goods and materials to the IMD should be made by rail both during the construction stage and when in operation; 

-          a traffic routing scheme should be implemented that takes into account the environmental impacts of traffic as well as traffic movements;

-          night time deliveries to the site, both during the construction stage and when in operation, should be minimised;

-           lighting at the site should be low-level, designed to minimise light-spillage, or activity-initiated;

-           the open brook that will be removed during construction should be reinstated after the temporary railhead has been removed.

d)       Impact on East West Rail

-          ensure that the implementation of East West Rail will not be delayed or its subsequent operation affected unduly or unreasonably by the construction or operation of the works to be authorised by the Bill

-          ensure that a station is provided (either by building it or funding it) on the East West Rail line at Steeple Claydon, to serve the IMD and surrounding  communities.

Closure of AVDC offices in Winslow and Buckingham

Aylesbury Vale District Council is making changes to the way residents can access its services in Buckingham and Winslow.



The changes reflect the significantly reduced demand for a face-to-face service as more residents use the council’s website or contact staff by phone and email.



There has been a steady decline in the number of people using the council’s area offices, with both offices most recently having less than 12 customers visiting for non-payment related AVDC enquiries per day.



With lowering demand for a face-to-face service and as part of a drive to deliver more efficient and cost-effective services, the council will no longer be providing customer access points in Buckingham and Winslow.



The council will stop its AVDC service at Winslow Library on 19 May and at the Buckingham Centre on 30 May. Customers are advised that the Buckingham Centre will remain open and will continue to offer its other services, it is only the AVDC service that is withdrawing.



Councillor Pam Pearce, Cabinet Member for Community Matters, said: “The way people access council services is changing and people tend to prefer contacting us either by phone or using our online services. It is clear from the visitor figures that maintaining face-to-face customer services in Buckingham and Winslow is not efficient or cost effective. Although there will be much more of an emphasis on self-service, we will continue to offer face-to-face support at our Gateway offices in Aylesbury to anyone who needs it.”



The service offered to Aylesbury Vale residents will not be affected. Customers will be encouraged to visit the AVDC website www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk as a first point of contact, giving 24 hour a day instant access to information about its services. For the small number of issues that can’t be addressed online or for those people without internet access, staff are easily contactable via telephone on 01296 585858.



If a query cannot be resolved by phone or email, the customer will be offered an appointment to see an officer at The Gateway in Aylesbury. Customers who have not made a prior appointment and visit The Gateway to see an advisor will be directed to the self-service area to contact the appropriate service or access information via the AVDC website.



For the few people who may find it difficult to visit Aylesbury, some AVDC services may offer a local surgery or, where appropriate, arrange a home visit. In addition, there will be free access to a computer and telephone at Buckingham CAB in Wheeldon House, Market Hill, Buckingham. For more information on this please visit our website www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/move



Payments can still be made at all shops with the Paypoint sign or at post offices. A list of locations is available at www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/wheretopay . Documents or paperwork can also be dropped off at The Gateway. Some services have pre-printed envelopes available for customers to use, offering reassurance to those often submitting personal information.



For more information about the changes to face-to-face services, visit www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/move