Wendover Neighbourhood Plan January 2018

The Young Voice

Wendover Neighbourhood Plan is about the future of Wendover so the opinions of young people are especially important. Some members of the Steering Group recently visited John Colet School and the Youth Centre. Our grateful thanks go to Becky and Martha of the Youth Centre plus the clerk and her deputy from Wendover Parish Council. Our thanks also to the staff of John Colet School who permitted us to take over part of some lessons in order to obtain the views and ideas of the young people.

You will not be surprised that fast food outlets and coffee places figured largely as what is missing in Wendover for the young. Many requested a cinema and more shops. Open spaces and sports facilities also featured strongly. Not very many expected to live in Wendover when older. One of the main reasons was the high price of houses.

Huge thanks to those young people who took part in our survey. Be assured that the thoughts and ideas of the young people of Wendover will play a significant part in the construction of Wendover Neighbourhood Plan. If you have not yet had the opportunity to give your views about the Plan, please go to the website shown above to add your own comments. This applies whatever your age, whichever school you attend or attended.

RAF Halton Closure

This letter was received in response to the news of the RAF Closure planned for 2022:

I read the article in Wendover News from the Wendover Society regarding the future closure of RAF Halton and it seems to me that everyone including AVDC and Bucks CC are missing the perfect opportunity to use this site as a new secondary school for the areas including Wendover, Stoke Mandeville, Aston Clinton, Weston Turville and maybe even Broughton and half of Tring Road in Aylesbury.

The buildings are already in place for educational purposes as it is a training centre, there are sports facilities and plenty of parking for both staff and students, the site is well-situated for the many new housing estates that either exist or are being planned for the area and there are many cycle routes already in place. It would take the strain off the Grange School and the current John Colet School site could be knocked down, and the prime location that it sits on, used for housing. Wharf Road and Manor Road currently have three schools squeezed onto it as well as nurseries, and the traffic issues around the area at school drop-off and pick-up are now becoming a major cause for concern with regards to child safety – Bucks CC know this, the school travel plans suggest that all three schools sharing this site have been concerned about the safety of their students for many years.

The school would still be called the John Colet taking many more students and could also house a larger sixth form centre maybe even offering practical based courses for those students not wishing to do A Levels, who currently have to travel to Aylesbury or Amersham to take vocational college courses. All this would alleviate the traffic congestion around Wendover and surrounding routes and along the A413. It is such an obvious solution that I cannot understand why nobody has thought about it, it doesn’t stop houses being built, but it will take the traffic out of Wendover during busy times giving our children a safe journey to and from school and a new housing estate on the current JCS site within walking distance of all schools, shops and the station.

Miss A Davies, Wendover