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

HS2 Environment Statement consulation

The HS2 Environment Statement was published along with the HS2 Hybrid Bill on 25 November. The Environmental Statement details how HS2 Ltd proposes to deal with the impact of their project on the environment. Through Parliament, the government has to gain feedback on the Environmental Statement in advance of the second reading of the Bill in the House of Commons. Responses to the Environmental Statement will then be considered before the second reading of the HS2 Hybrid Bill. The deadline for responding to this consultation is 24 January 2014.

Aylesbury Vale District Council is working on its response to the Environmental Statement and we will publish it on our website once it has been prepared.

The Environmental Statement documents can be accessed at Gov.uk website.

Details of the consultation will be available at Gov.uk and comments should be sent to:
FREEPOST RTEC-AJUT-GGHH
HS2 Phase One Bill Environmental Statement
PO Box 70178
London, WC1A 9HS

Or by email to HS2PhaseOneBillES@dialoguebydesign.com

The deadline for submissions is the 24 January 2014.

The documents relating to the Steeple Claydon area (including the plans for the construction sites, temporary railhead  and infrastructure maintenance depot) can be seen in Steeple Claydon Library (on a PC provided by HS2 for the purpose).

Upgrade for Swan Pool, Buckingham

The Swan Pool and Leisure Centre in Buckingham is in line for a major upgrade after an improvement plan was approved by Aylesbury Vale District Council’s cabinet.

The cabinet decided to proceed with a multi-million pound scheme that will greatly enhance the 17-year-old leisure centre and provide top-class facilities for residents.

It is hoped that the revamped facility could be delivered in the summer of 2015, subject to funding from AVDC’s capital programme and Sport England.

The scheme includes a remodelled entrance area with a two-storey climbing wall, an extended fitness suite, an enlarged crèche/multi-use room and an improved refreshment area. There are also plans to extend and completely refit the wet and dry changing areas.

Work will be phased to keep as many facilities open for use throughout the improvement programme.

Councillor Howard Mordue, Cabinet Member for Leisure and member for Buckingham South, said: “This is a tremendous investment for leisure, not just for Buckingham, but the whole of the north of the district. The Swan Pool and Leisure Centre was opened in 1996 and – after 17 years – is now showing its age. We are determined to deliver a major refurbishment of the site to ensure the leisure centre offers the very best facilities to our residents. One of the council’s priorities is to improve the health of our residents and an improved Swan Pool will help us to achieve this.”

AVDC has submitted a bid to the Sport England Improvement Fund for £500,000. The council should learn early in the new year if the bid has been successful.

Sports and Leisure Management (SLM) Ltd, operating under its brand name, Everyone Active, assumed responsibility for the operation of the Swan Pool in Buckingham and Aqua Vale in Aylesbury on behalf of AVDC earlier this year. The leisure operator will work alongside the council to deliver the improvement project.

“We’re thrilled that Aylesbury Vale District Council has decided to embark on these works which will modernise the centre and greatly improve the quality of leisure facilities for the local community”, says Everyone Active Contract Manager Christine Coppack. “Swan Pool and Leisure Centre is a much loved and popular facility. These important works will provide a fresher, more pleasant environment for local residents of all ages to enjoy and be active in.”

Have your say on review of AVDC ward boundaries

The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England is asking local people for their help to draw up a new pattern of council wards for Aylesbury Vale District Council.

Following a public consultation earlier this year, the Commission has also announced that it is minded to recommend that the council should have 59 councillors in the future, the same as the current arrangements.

The Commission now needs information from people and groups across Aylesbury Vale district to help it to produce a new pattern of wards to accommodate 59 councillors.

In drawing up new boundaries, the Commission aims to deliver electoral equality for voters in council elections so that each councillor represents roughly the same number of voters. The review also aims to ensure that the new council wards reflect, as far as possible, the interests and identities of communities across the district.

Max Caller, Chair of the Commission, said: “The starting point of an electoral review is for the Commission to take a view on the number of councillors who should represent the authority in future. On the evidence presented to the Commission, we are minded to recommend that Aylesbury Vale should continue to have 59 councillors in future.

“We are now asking local people and organisations to help us draw up new wards for the district. As we develop the recommendations, we will take into account local community identities as well as ensuring electoral equality for voters.

“Your views will make a difference. We will carefully consider all evidence that is provided during this phase of the review whoever it is from and whether it applies to the whole district or just a small part of it.

“We will publish all the submissions on our website so that local people can see all the various proposals we receive. Residents will then have a further chance to have their say after we publish our draft recommendations in January 2014.”

Local people have until 1 October 2013 to submit their views. Further information on the review and interactive maps of the existing wards can be found at consultation.lgbce.org.uk and www.lgbce.org.uk

Vale of Aylesbury Plan submitted to government by AVDC

A major blueprint which shapes how Aylesbury Vale will develop over the next two decades has been submitted to the government for independent examination.

The Vale of Aylesbury Plan Strategy sets out a framework to plan for jobs and homes in the area until 2031.

The plan, which will be examined by a planning inspector, proposes that Aylesbury Vale District Council will provide for the delivery of 13,500 new homes. Almost 10,000 of these are already at the advanced stages of planning such as those on Buckingham’s London Road and the Aylesbury East development at Broughton Crossing.

As well as working on all the necessary infrastructure, the council is also planning for a minimum of 6,000 additional jobs within the Vale.

Submission of the document follows the revocation in March this year of the South East Plan, which had previously guided planning policy.

Councillor Carole Paternoster, Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, said: “This plan is vital to our future, establishing how the district should develop over the next two decades, and putting in place important policies that will enable us to deliver our vision. It will also give the Vale the protection it needs to guard against speculative or ill-suited developments. Councillors and officers have been working hard to reach this important milestone and I want to thank everybody in the Vale who has helped us develop this plan and bring it to fruition.”

The dates for the examination in public will be set by the government’s Planning Inspectorate. It is expected to be held in November/December. That will lead to a planning inspector’s report on whether the plan can eventually proceed to adoption.

Submission of this strategy document follows the pre-submission publicity in May and June. In total 129 respondents commented on the plan, which resulted in a total of 584 comments being made (one respondent can make multiple comments). All these comments will be passed to the Planning Inspectorate to be taken into account as part of the examination process.

High Speed Two update

The following update oin High Speed 2 has been circulated by Bucks County Council:

Legal Challenge

The Supreme Court appeal will be heard on 15/16 October 2013.  Five judges will hear the appeal with the majority decision going forward.  The two grounds of the challenge are a lack of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and a second EU Directive - the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (EIAD).

Construction routes

HS2 Ltd has now shared their proposals for construction routes.  The map is available on the 51m website.  This could affect communities who previously may have thought that they were not affected by HS2 (map is bottom of column 2).

http://www.51m.co.uk/

Roads update

HS2 Ltd has recently agreed the following will be included in the formal ES;

·     Maintain access at Bacombe Lane, Wendover

·     A4010 (Risborough Road)

·     Maintain access to Perry Hill and West Street, Calvert

·     A41 Waddesdon realignment

Petitioning Strategy

Indications from HS2 Ltd lead us to think that the formal Environmental statement (ES) will be published in October/November with the hybrid Bill being deposited in November/December. It is likely that the consultation on the formal ES will take place during December/January 2014. Individuals and organisations who consider this consultation period too short are writing to the Secretary of State (via their MP) to request that the consultation be longer than 8 weeks, to take into account the Christmas period and the fact that the documentation will be so much larger than the draft ES. For hybrid Bill petitioning, most of the Buckinghamshire upper tier authorities have now appointed a Parliamentary Agent to act on their behalf.

We are looking to provide a Guide to Petitioning to help communities and other stakeholders who are directly and specially affected to take forward their own petitions.  There is a toolkit for petitioning on private bill on the Parliamentary website (http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/commonspetitioningkit.pdf) 

Property and compensation consultation

You will no doubt be aware that this re-consultation was launched on 12 September and runs to 4 December 2013.  Schemes that may be introduced are express purchase, sale and rent back of properties that will be demolished, (rural support zone) property bond or voluntary purchase, alternative sale and rent back or long-term hardship scheme.  A number of events have been organised by HS2 Ltd.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/property-owners-protected-by-hs2-compensation-scheme

CPRE visual maps

CPRE and a company called ITO have developed a website that shows how High Speed 2 (HS2) would be constructed, what the landscaping would look like, how loud would it be and much more.

You can link to the website here http://hs2maps.com/

Community forums

We understand that this current round of community forums will be the last for the foreseeable future.  HS2 Ltd has said they will continue to meet with individuals and organisations most of whom will be involved in the petitioning process.

Buckinghamshire County Council HS2 team

marcus40.rogers@gmail.com mob 07702 490999

jcopcutt@buckscc.gov.uk tel 01296 383793

alexday@buckscc.gov.uk tel 01296 382409

sagibson@buckscc.gov.uk tel 01296 387540

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Suggested comments for HS2 Environmental Impact Consultation Response

Many Steeple Claydon residents are planning to submit a response to the High Speed Two Environmental Impact Consultation in time for the 11th July deadline.

Below are some suggestions of some of the points you may wish to include.    It will have the maximum impact if you can rephrase them in your own words.

Preamble:

This document discusses concerns and mitigation regarding the IMD. This may be used to help parishioners compose their own ‘response’ when replying to HS2 Ltd. It should NOT be copied but regarded as a prompt sheet to create their own view together with any of their own concerns. The more views that have an individual look albeit communicating the core message the greater the impact that may have.

Concerns:

- 24/7 working during construction IMD and Temporary railhead. The detail on what is going to happen at night is not explained. Night time working is not acceptable and was not mentioned at the Community Forums.

- Perry Road closure. The SCPC proposals to reinstate this road alongside the IMD in as straight line as possible to maintain the original traffic flow but going under EWR and over HS2 have been made during a community forum. Please confirm in due course the final plan once agreed with BCCC.

- No noise maps of the depot. They should have been provided bearing in mind how early it starts and its proximity to people. We understand they will not be known publically until the ES is published. How can that be a consultation?

- No detail on the rail head. This is a significant contribution to the overall noise especially at night and no explanation on how care will be applied in this region when currently the environment here at night is extremely quiet at typically <30dba .="" a="" be="" can="" consultation="" how="" p="" that="">

- No detail on the accommodation facilities the 200 or so workers may have at the West Street camp to ensure their needs to not interfere with the community. Is a hotel being planned on site with cinema and bar etc? Any workers coming into the village will be detrimental. How can that be a consultation? Consider the approach that local businesses come to the site NOT the site comes to the village for their needs.

- No detail on the lighting impact the depot scheme will cause. How can that be a consultation? Please share the lighting plan before it gets installed.

- Insufficient detail on traffic mitigation. SCPC has a zero tolerance view on extra traffic in the village cause by the scheme be that in construction or in operation. The solution therefore is for visitors/workers to transit to the IMD site, be that during construction or in operation via rail and utilising the requested halt/station. Statements in the DES discuss large numbers of workers’ cars/LGV’s and HGV’s but say the impact on key roads is TBD. HS2 have proposed car sharing. That is ineffective and difficult to implement. Is it 4 to a car? , 2 to a car ? and how would this be implemented or policed for many years. SCPC has other ideas based on existing rail infrastructure and Licence Plate Recognition Technology and they are discussed below.

Specific mitigation ideas from SCPC that need to be discussed, confirmed and implemented:

- Requested strongly by SCPC at a community forum 2012 that a construction halt or station on EWR is built to get workers in rather than by car. If materials can come by train so should staff. Section 2.7 refers to ongoing input from the community about that so please confirm that asap. (Tables A and B demonstrate that). Additionally please ensure the halt/station remains for operational staff of the IMD 2026+ to use thus mitigating the traffic detailed in table C. (i.e. please negotiate with Network Rail.)

- A new Perry Rd should be built based on the draft proposal from SCPC. The original plan by HS2 ‘via Charndon and Portway Farm route’ is simply not acceptable as it will have various negative aspects such as forcing more traffic via Steeple Claydon and causing issues at Charndon, Portway farm and Twyford. SCPC is aware draft drawings are now with BCCC and the outcome of those talks need to be communicated to the parishioners at the earliest opportunity.

- Automatic Licence Plate Recognition Technology (ALPRT) cameras are placed at the entrances to the village to catch unauthorised vehicles be that commuting workers in their private cars/vans or HGVs etc wanting to do a rat run through the village over the years of construction. Plate numbers of any vehicle associated with the construction would be in a database. Software could then distinguish who was not meant to be there at any period. The advantage of ALPRT is that it requires no in vehicle equipment and with appropriate software can be flexible to cope with a changing workforce and construction needs during the years of work. HS2 Ltd should start asking for tenders on such a scheme that could cope with 4 construction sites an 8 year programme and the many thousands of workers involved. This idea was expressed by SCPC at the 4th June HS2 roadshow and it was regarded as an excellent thought by at least two representatives of HS2 Ltd and they requested it be included in our response. It has so please ensure it happens. (This is repeated in Question 3 as it is relevant to the C of C).

- The construction companies need to build, aside from bedrooms for the 200 workers, amenities such as cinema, on site ‘shop’ , and on site ‘pub’ and welfare facilities to make them independent of SC, Twyford. Calvert etc. There should be agreements in place to allow local businesses to sell into the on site shop or pub. i.e. the village goes to the construction site instead of the construction site coming to Steeple Claydon. If not the social impact of cars visiting / parking/ impacting the population is huge. No detail on that at all. (This is repeated in Question 3 as it is relevant to the C of C).

- Noise monitoring stations in place around depot and use of special quiet equipment & trains at night needs to be devised. Invoke a no work at night rule ideally (as mitigation)

- HS2 contractors resurface the whole of Addison road and West Street at least and any other roads they use locally. Residents want some benefit. E.g. the Addisson Road bridge will be no doubt beautifully finished for drivers only to find oneself back on the old road surface made worse by their past traffic from HS2. The old joke of returning the roads to the condition they were in should not be applied. Please make it better.

- Extend the new waste Rd to the IMD to provide a clear conduit from the A41 to the IMD site. This needs discussing with stakeholders naturally but for a short length of additional Road from Calvert to the IMD it seems a logical thing to do.

- Ensure state of the art lighting technology is used at the IMD with a view to minimising the pollution in an area that today enjoys and totally dark environment. Please discuss with local authorities