Gladmans Planning Application refused by AVDC

I was pleased to see that AVDC have refused the planning application by Gladmans for 80 homes off North End Road.

The reasons for refusing the application are are as follows:

1 The proposal would conflict with policy GP35 of the Aylesbury Vale District Plan and would not constitute sustainable development. It would fail to comply with the core planning principles of the NPPF to recognise the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside, to conserve and enhance the natural environment and to reuse land that has been previously developed. The development is of a scale and nature on a greenfield site in the open countryside which would cause harm by the significant adverse visual and landscape character impact on the area of the development site and its surrounding landscape and to the settlement identity of the village of Steeple Claydon which is contrary to the Development Plan and the NPPF.

2 The applicant has not made any provision for a footway between the application site and Steeple Claydon Village Centre along North End Road and therefore the absence of footways would lead to conditions of danger to pedestrians walking to or from the proposed development. The development is contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework in that it would not promote sustainable transport and the aims of Buckinghamshire's Local Transport Plan 3

3 The location of the site is such that it has only limited access by non-car modes of travel. The absence of adequate infrastructure and the sites remoteness from major built up areas is such that it is likely to be reliant on the use of the private car contrary to local and national transport policy. The development is contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework in that it would not promote sustainable transport and the aims of Buckinghamshire's Local Transport Plan 3

4 The Design and Access Statement refers to the development as including 2.5 storey dwellings with a height of 10.5m and a span depth of upto 12.5m. Buildings of this height and scale are not a feature of the village and taking into consideration the prominent edge of village location, such buildings would be visually intrusive and lend the development an urban appearance not in keeping with its rural location. Therefore, the proposal would be contrary to policy GP.35 of the Aylesbury Vale District Local Plan and paragraph 56,57, 58, and 64, of the NPPF.

5 Had the above reasons for refusal not applied, it would have been necessary for the applicant and the Local Planning Authority to enter into a Section 106 Agreement to secure the provision of 30% affordable housing on site, a financial contribution towards off site sport and leisure facilities as well as the maintenance of on site open space, the provision of a financial contribution towards additional grammar school facilities, and off site highway measures. In the absence of such a provision the proposal would be contrary to the requirements of policy GP2 and the Affordable Housing Policy Interim Position Statement (June 2014) and policy GP94 of Aylesbury Vale District Plan and the NPPF.


Congratulations to all residents who actively opposed the application.

Steeple Claydon Post Office

I wholeheartedly support the campaign to retain the Steeple Claydon Post Office in its existing location, and have written to the senior implementation manager of the Post Office Network Transformation Programme as follows:

Dear Sir,

 

As District Councillor for Steeple Claydon I am very concerned to learn of your proposals for Steeple Claydon Post Office.

 

The existing Post Office is a greatly valued village facility and I am opposed to any proposal which would reduce the level of services available.

 

Steeple Claydon is a large and growing village several miles from the nearest towns and the Post Office serves a wide local community as well as the village itself.  It will have increased demand from the proposals for High Speed Two, with a nearby maintenance depot.

 

I should be grateful if you could preserve the existing facility.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Cllr John Chilver

Steeple Claydon Ward

AVDC

 

His reply:

Dear Mr Chilver

 

Thank you for your email of 23 March addressed to our Consultation Team about Steeple Claydon Post Office. As Senior Implementation Manager I have been asked to reply to you direct.

 

I would first like to stress that the Network Transformation Programme is not a closure programme and that those areas that currently have a Post Office service will not be left without a service as a result of the programme.

 

The aim of the Network Transformation Programme is to ensure that branches are viable and sustainable in the future. Our plans are about maintaining the network and ensuring that no community is left without Post Office services going forward.

 

Over the coming weeks we will be working closely with the postmaster of Steeple Claydon to find the best possible solution for Steeple Claydon Post Office as we progress through the Network Transformation Programme.

 

May I thank you for your interest in this matter.

 

Kind Regards

 

	Stewart Swabey  Senior Implementation Manager Network Transformation (SI, CT, Hardships & ECT)
	Post Office Ltd 1st Floor, 148 Old Street,  London EC1V 9HQ Ntexecutivecorrespondence@postoffice.co.uk Please add your voice by email, post or signing the petition at the Post Office counter or online at: https://www.change.org/p/the-post-office-ltd-stop-the-closure-of-steeple-claydon-post-office

District Council Elections 7th May 2015 The Claydons and Hillesden

Below is the text of my election manifesto:

For residents of the Claydons, it has been a great privilege to serve as your District Councillor for the last four years, and I would be very grateful for your vote to enable me to continue to do so in the forthcoming election on May 7th.

For residents of Hillesden, which has been added to the Steeple Claydon Ward, I would value the opportunity to represent you and look forward to getting to know you and your concerns.

I have worked hard to protect the quality of life in our villages.  I have lobbied to get our roads improved, our potholes fixed, our drains and pavements repaired, new salt bins installed, and our roads properly gritted in the winter.  I have supported plans to improve the amount of affordable housing available, but have opposed the proposed large scale Gladmans development in Steeple Claydon.  I believe it should be up to residents to decide where housing growth should take place, not have it imposed by developers.

I have supported the improved superfast broadband which has recently come to our area through the Connected Counties programme, and welcome the additional funding recently provided by AVDC.

Supporting the rural economy, including new startups and those working from home is a Council priority and has my strong support.  I have also lobbied to retain and improve our local bus services.

High Speed Two continues to threaten to have a major impact on our communities.  I have supported efforts to try and mitigate its impact in our area.  Our local Councils and residents have sent in many excellent petitions to Parliament and we need to make sure that the Select Committee are fully aware of the issues we face.

As Chairman of the Community Liaison Group for the incinerator at Calvert I have ensured the concerns of our residents are heard and addressed.  I have discussed damage by construction vehicles and excessive floodlighting of the site with management who have taken action. 

I have enjoyed participating in so many events and  activities in our villages over the past four years,  from pantomimes to firework displays, Theatre in the Villages, Music in Quiet Places, and  village fetes and shows.  It has been great to see the success of the Community Library in Steeple Claydon,  and a privilege to attend the award ceremonies for the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service to the  Steeple Claydon Age UK day centre and for Volunteer of the Year to one of our residents.

I welcome the formation of a new Civic Pride group in Steeple Claydon to actively improve the village.  I have worked closely with our local PCSOs on issues such as illegal parking, vandalism, graffiti and anti social behaviour.

As a member of the District Council I have had the honour for the past four years of serving as Chairman of the Finance and Resources scrutiny committee and have been closely involved in our strategy to deliver value for money, reform services, cut waste and improve communications.  

I am delighted that we are able to help residents by freezing Council Tax this year.

I grew up in Buckinghamshire and have lived in the area for over twenty years. If elected I will do

everything I can to keep Hillesden and the Claydons a great place to live.

First step towards a Steeple Claydon Neighbourhood Plan

The Parish Council has taken the first step towards the preparation of a Neighbourhood Plan, which will plan the village's development over the next 20 years.

People are being asked to comment on Steeple Claydon Parish Council's application to AVDC to designate the whole parish as a neighbourhood area.

A consultation has been launched, with all responses due in by 26 March.

If the application is approved following the consultation, it will be the parish council's first step on their way towards preparing a neighbourhood plan.

A neighbourhood plan can establish planning policies for the development and use of land, including where additional new homes and offices should be built and what they should look like.

Residents of Steeple Claydon would be given the opportunity to be involved in the preparation of the neighbourhood plan and, ultimately, will have the right to vote for or against it at a referendum. No plan can be adopted unless it passes a referendum.

This current consultation is not a consultation on a neighbourhood plan, but rather one on the boundary of where a future neighbourhood plan can be prepared for.

The parish council is suggesting the whole of the parish area should form the boundary, but if people think it should be a bigger or smaller area, they should let AVDC know.

A copy of the neighbourhood area application is available to view on the AVDC website

People are able to submit comments on the application, specifically on the area which Steeple Claydon Parish Council proposes to designate as a neighbourhood area, until 5pm on 26 March.

Comments can be made either by email to planningpolicy@aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk or by post to Aylesbury Vale District Council, Forward Plans, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, HP19 8FF.

For more information, call the planning policy team on 01296 585679.

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.”