Wendover Neighbourhood Plan August 2017
Halton Lane Inquiry
A statement from Wendover Parish Council and WNP Steering Group(SG) was prepared with the help of the planning consultant engaged and presented at the Public Inquiry into whether development should be permitted at the Halton Lane Field site. Members of the SG also attended.
The points of objection were:-Significant adverse impact on the landscape character (GP35 & RA2)Harmful effects on the visual amenity of the area.Substantial adverse impacts on the adjoining Weston Turville SSSI.Significant intrusion into open countryside and loss of a Greenfield site.A detrimental impact on the appearance of the rural area because it would result in coalescence between Weston Turville and World’s End.Detrimental impacts on local infrastructure adding to the problems of for example – already oversubscribed schools, pressures on the local GP and dental services, lack of sufficent public transport links and increased congestion on the rural roads.
In addition we stressed the fact that there was a 5 year supply of housing land available and that the closure of Halton Camp meant all planning applications had to be looked at in the light of this development. We also stressed the overwhelming view of those consulted so far, which was that they wished to keep the existing green belt and green spaces around Wendover and not coalesce with other villages (ie Weston Turville and Halton). In this we have sought to represent the views of the public at the Inquiry.
The Inquiry finished on 7 July. The Inspector asked that submissions from both parties ie, the developer and AVDC, and the draft s106 agreement should be placed on AVDC’s website by 12 July. Reference 16/00068/NONDET in the appeals section will access these documents. There was a lot of debate at the Inquiry about the housing supply figures and the result of the Inquiry is uncertain.
Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP)
The latest timetable for VALP has now been published on the AVDC website https://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/section/vale-aylesbury-local-plan-valp.
Meetings: Tuesday 26 Sept – VALP Scrutiny Cttee; Tuesday 10 October – Cabinet; Wednesday 18 October – Council
Future work
The SG are working hard on their research and evidence preparation under the various topic heads.Where possible we are following up points on matters raised at the launch event with the statutory bodies and trying to develop solutions. These include:
Liaison with other bodies
We will be asking the assistance of all organisations with an interest in the future of our community, for example Natural England, BBOWT, as well as local organisations, and relevant bodies will be invited to Topic group meetings. We are meeting local parish councils to try to develop a common approach – again liaison was requested by a number of contributors.
Highways improvements
Many responders since the launch have raised issues over congestion and parking and we will be investigating how the Plan can contribute to their alleviation. Recently the vital work to upgrade the Tring Road was completed (see photos). The SG will press for work on crucial highway work to be prioritised.
RAF Halton and HS2
The WNP SG are looking to participate on the committees formed to liaise with the MOD/Dep for Transport as this will enable them to feed into the process the very clear concerns of the public at and following the launch events.