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Volume 136 Winter 2013 Established 1957 Society scoops award! The Chesham Society is ‘thrilled’ after picking up a prestigious award. In Page this 2 issue Editor’s letter The Chesham Society was one of HS2 - Are we there yet? seven out of more than 200 eligible groups to pick up an award at Civic Page 3 Voice’s Civic Day Awards at its CoreChesham annual general meeting, in Liverpool, Public consultation (continued) in October. Page 4 The groups got the award for helping HS2 continued to inspire and promote civic pride. Chairman’s Report More than 200 groups held events Page 5 across the country to mark Civic Members’ meeting report Letter from Bernard Meldrum Day on June 22, including The Chesham Society. Page 6 Notes from our friends - Members of the Chesham Society Chesham in Bloom dressed up as characters from Alice in Wonderland, because the Mad Page 7 Hatter was rumoured to be based Dates for your diary Membership form on Cheshamite Roger Crabbe, and had a presence at the BURYFields Page 8 festival, as well as in the high street, promoting Civic Day and the society. Cala Homes planning application The Chesham Society was chosen as a winner because of its work in launching a new Contact details image of the society following a re-branding exercise. Chairman Tony Molesworth said: “It’s a really great honour. I’m both thrilled and surprised that the Chesham Society was selected for the award which recognises Public the work the society has undertaken to launch a new image of the society following a re-branding exercise. Our aim is to make the Chesham Society a campaigning force consultation to promote the wellbeing of Chesham and its inhabitants and generate a sense of civic Site options for pride by putting Chesham first.” Gypsy, Travellers and Civic Voice president Griff Rhys Jones said: “I congratulate the Chesham Society. The Travelling Showpeople strength of the civic society movement is the diversity of groups that are involved. Council is The thing that pulls them all together is simply people caring about where they live. working on a Delivery Development I congratulate Chesham and hope that other communities across the country can take Plan Document (DDPD) that will inspiration from them.” build upon the strategic policies contained within the adopted Core Tony thanked programme and events committee member Emily Culverhouse and her Strategy. team for all their work on Civic Day in the town centre and at BURYFields. The DDPD will contain detailed Emily added: “Because it’s an award for rebranding the society a huge vote of thanks development management goes to Richard Brock who designed our new look.” Camilla Goodman Continued on page 3

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Editor’s letter HELLO and welcome to the Winter 2013 edition of Focus. We have had a pretty successful We have plenty for you to read about in this edition, three months since the last edition including an update on national and local HS2 issues, our of Focus. response to the public consultation on potential gypsy, As you will have read, the Chesham traveller and travelling showpeople sites in Chesham and Society brought home a prestigious its surrounding villages, a few words from our chairman award from the Civic Society Tony Molesworth, more information on our Members’ AGM in October. Let’s hope there are more awards for Meeting, some news from Chesham in Bloom about the society in 2014. A big thank you must go to Emily its successful year and we hear from member Bernard Culverhouse, Tony Molesworth and Richard Brock for all Meldrum who recently moved away from the town. the hard work they put in for us to win the award. Thank you for taking the time to read this edition of Focus We also held a successful Members’ Meeting in September. and as ever thank you for supporting the Chesham Society. We changed the format this year and we had a panel of We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New local councillors and representatives from organisations Year and we will of course continue to put Chesham first for members to question. Thank you to the members in 2014. who came along as well as our guest panellists. Camilla Goodman HS2 – Are we there yet? NO, not quite – but after losing all the A ‘paving bill’ is currently before the economic arguments, House of Lords. It will allow Government HS2 is now the ‘North- to spend as much as it wants on any high South Railway’, and it speed rail project. is all about capacity. The consultation on compensation But all the same, it must go as fast for property owners has been rerun, as possible – otherwise it is back to following a successful legal challenge to the drawing board. the last one. The campaign against is continuing locally and nationally and in many Local Issues different directions. Here are a few The Community Forum ‘engagement’ highlights. process has now finished, without any significant progress towards mitigating the impact of construction National Developments or operation in the AONB. Traffic management was not The Supreme Court decision and the deposition of the discussed at any Forum meeting and the Forums ended, Hybrid Bill are both expected by the end of November, as they began, in an atmosphere of distrust and animosity after we go to print. The court decision has the potential towards HS2. to cause delay and some embarrassment, but is unlikely to BCC held a meeting on November 5 to discuss petitioning halt the project immediately. the Hybrid Bill Committee and to present the latest version The Hybrid Bill is accompanied by the final Environmental of its mitigation ‘Blueprint’. Topics which concern Chesham Statement, but more importantly petitions requesting and the AONB are: changes to the implementation of the project, but not its cancellation, may be presented to the Hybrid Bill The Full Chilterns Tunnel Committee. This will be the main focus of attention over This is the proposal to continue the Chilterns Tunnel to the far the next few months, as we decide who will present which side of the hill beyond . This faces difficulties because topics. Continued on page 4

2 Putting Chesham first

winter 2013.indd 2 12/4/2013 6:51:35 PM Focus Winter 2013 CoreChesham revitalisation for the community takes shape VOLUNTEERS are revitalising Chesham’s high street by forming a group to encourage community involvement, called CoreChesham. CoreChesham is comprised of Chesham people who want to promote the town and vibrancy of the (L-R) high street with footfall. Merrin Molesworth, Colette Littley, CoreChesham has a temporary home in 15A East Street, David MacBean, Martin Parkes and Emily Culverhouse courtesy of Liz and Ray Payne who have made it available rent-free for six months, which will host a number of Continued from page 1 exciting community projects, starting with a media hub for Internet Broadcasting and a Radio Station (IRS) comprising site allocations and land use designations. As part of this programmes by local enthusiasts, available on demand. there was a public consultation in September on site options for Gypsy, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople The broadcasting will propagate news, views, information, culture and events. It will be run primarily by volunteers Two new sites in the green belt were identified for connecting with other media organisations serving consideration, one on farm land adjacent to houses on Chesham offering education, enabling the community to use the south side of Road and the second a small parcel of vacant land off Rushmore Lane, . the IRS and advertising. Anyone with a mobile phone will be a reporter. It will grow to include internet TV and later The Chesham Society responded and said it was not in should evolve into a social enterprise. favour of either site being used, in particular the one in Lye Green Road. The group has been working with contributors on some pilot broadcasts. The actual number of pitches needed in the immediate Another function of CoreChesham will be to encourage Chesham area should be more closely defined and then options for locations on brown field sites within the built new business start-ups by renting office space (hot-desking) area of Chesham should be identified and considered. and/or a pop-up shop in the premises. Desks and cupboards are ready and there is interest in renting desk space. Whilst not part of this consultation, it was noted that the Springfield Road Industrial Site is part of an earlier CoreChesham will also act as a contact point for voluntary consultation. It is difficult to understand how these two groups such as The Chesham Society, Shed@ThePark and consultations can be considered in isolation when the volunteers. aim is to determine the long term requirement for extra It is the brainchild of Better Chesham’s Martin Parkes who sites within or close to Chesham. said: “Finance will initially be sparse but eventually we hope It is now understood that Springfield Road may have to make it self-funding from sales, sponsorship, advertising already been deemed unsuitable due to lack of access. space and events.” The requirements have been determined by a consultancy Martin is keen for all groups to support the project including firm. Whilst the number of pitches is quite low for the three levels of council, ChAP, schools, voluntary Chiltern, there is a steady increased requirement over groups, hobby groups, sports organisations and residents’ the period to 2023. It must be questioned whether this associations. is a real requirement. Chesham is a can-do town and this is an example. It is also noted that many current pitches have been If you would like to be involved please email occupied by one person or family for many years. [email protected] or call 01494 785 000. Tony Molesworth Merrin Molesworth

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Continued from page 2 the costs are higher and a second major tunnelling compound accessed by new roads. However, no proposals for new would be required near Stoke Mandeville. Stoke Mandeville access roads have been accepted by HS2. residents are not very enthusiastic about this, but there are no alternative proposals which safeguard the entire AONB. Disruption Maps published by CPRE show that areas some way from The South Heath Tunnel Extension the route, like Beaconsfield and Princess Risborough This proposal is to extend the Chilterns bored tunnel just which have never been consulted, will suffer disruption beyond Frith Hill, to avoid the planned South Heath cut and from the construction traffic. While there is a ‘Code of cover tunnel. HS2 claim it would cost more to extend the Construction Practice’ to control the construction traffic, bored tunnel, although that is not apparent from the limited this will not influence other traffic using the roads that will costings made available to date. be free to take any available alternative routes. This issue A further meeting is promised after the Environmental was not addressed at the Community Forums and has not Statement has been published. yet been addressed by BCC - and time is running out. As always, the campaign needs money to continue, in Construction traffi c particular to support the legal challenge. A consensus is emerging that existing minor roads should See our website if you are able to contribute. not be used for construction traffic and the line should be Jim Conboy Chairman’s report - Winter 2013 I am tempted to start as usual by saying that the Chesham Society has had another busy quarter. However all the details are in other articles in this issue of Focus and I only wish to highlight four points:

The Chesham Society was delighted You may have read in the press my comments about to receive one of the Civic Day Awards the pressure on the green belt around Chesham due to the that were announced at the Civic Voice requirement to build new homes to meet targets set in the AGM. We were one of seven out of 200 adopted Core Strategy, the detail of which is now being put civic societies to achieve an award. This into the Delivery Development Plan Document (DDPT). The is a great achievement and we can thank Emily Culverhouse and Wycombe College green belt site in Lycrome and her team for all their work on Civic Day in the town Road was one of few major sites designated in the Core centre and at BURYFields. Strategy but many other new houses must be built in Chesham to meet the agreed housing target. It will help greatly if homes We changed the format of the Member’s Evening in can be built above shops and on disused industrial sites. It is September when we invited a panel of six local leaders to paramount that Chesham retains its industrial base but we also answer questions from our members and visitors. This proved must avoid both garden grabbing and building out into the green to be a lively and thought provoking evening that proved to be belt, especially on the eastern perimeter of the town which does a challenge to chair. However most of the questions were aired not have AONB protection. However the concern remains that and the meeting finished before everybody was exhausted. We we do not have the infrastructure - roads, water and sewage – will repeat this next year with some fine tuning. to cope with more houses. The Pre-Submission Consultation DDPD which will be made available in early 2014 will be a very The Chesham Society has signed the Partnership Agreement important document to be critically reviewed. to become a full member of the Impress The Chess Steering Group hosted by Chesham Town Council. Other members Finally I hope you can join the committee for drinks and nibbles include the Chesham Environment Group, Chiltern District at the Christmas Meeting at 7.30pm on Thursday, December 12 Council, Chiltern Chalk Streams Project, Environment Agency at Chesham Town Hall. We will be inviting members of other and the River Chess Association. The Project Definition is to local organisations to join us. This will be a social evening with no produce and implement an action plan that will lead to habitat speeches except for the presentation of the Civic Voice Award. restoration of the River Chess within Chesham, improve the The AGM will be on Thursday, January 30 and it is important public’s understanding and enjoyment of the River Chess and to that you attend. We still need new committee members to join inform residents and local businesses about appropriate riparian and fill critical roles to enable the society to fulfil its objectives. land management and pollution prevention. This river is one of Tony Molesworth the most important assets of our town so it is appropriate that Chairman the Chesham Society is fully involved.

4 Putting Chesham first

winter 2013.indd 4 12/4/2013 6:51:38 PM Focus Winter 2013 Member’s evening shake-up is a success THE Chesham Society has traditionally held this meeting so that members can cross examine their committee and hopefully ensure that members are getting what they pay for. This year we decided to change the format and invite a panel of speakers from councils and organisations to share the platform with the committee. Your chairman led the meeting to ensure all major topics Whilst this may have been seen as a chance for the committee to were covered and shared between speakers, covering both take a back seat, it also gave our members the chance to question the questions submitted in advance as well as some from local leaders about important matters affecting the community. the floor on the night. This ensured a lively open debate We were very pleased that Chesham’s mayor Councillor Mark but inevitably there was not enough time to answer all the Shaw, chairman of Chiltern District Council Councillor Noel questions received. Brown, Better Chesham’s Martin Parkes, Chesham Town Council’s The committee thanks all the speakers for giving up their Councillor Alan Bacon, and the River Chess Association’s Paul evening and answering the questions. We are encouraged Jennings and Professor Roger Wotton accepted our invitation and by this meeting and we will hopefully repeat it next year, were greeted by a full to overflowing Lowndes Room. when we hope to keep a record of what was agreed as We received 15 questions in advance of the meeting with subjects actions arising from the discussions. I apologise to those covering planning, the town centre, the evening economy, the who submitted questions that were not included. River Chess, HS2 and roads. Tony Molesworth

Grateful appreciation of Chesham Letter It is only after moving from an area that it is possible to really appreciate its qualities. We moved at the end of March to be near family after 49 Council. All of the assets of the dissolved councils would years of living in Chesham and we are now living three be automatically passed onto the successor councils, miles outside the historic seaside town of Southwold unless agreement could be reached to return some and thoroughly enjoying our new life. assets to newly constituted town and parish councils. Arnold and his fellow Chesham councillors fought for There are things about Chesham that we miss, but we Chesham to retain ownership of various assets, including are glad we made the move. Amongst other things we do the proceeds from the sale of Chesham Water Works, not have to ‘climb a mountain’ returning from shopping and some redundant allotments at Taylor’s farm to enable and Beryl misses the hive of activity at the Bowls Club in The Elgiva to be built. Some of the other assets returned the park. to the Town Council were all of the parks and open Surprisingly we both now realise how fortunate the town spaces, the swimming pool, allotment land and cemetery. was to be served so well by farsighted tenacious councillors This reclamation did not happen in other areas. in 1974/5 when our past president Cllr Arnold Baines and I only hope that Chesham residents today really Cllrs Frank Bell, John Downs, Robin Groves, Kath Harries, appreciate the almost forgotten debt of gratitude due to Ray Nutman, Cyril Raper, Bill Sills, Peter Ward amongst these farsighted former councillors who lived up to the others negotiated on the town’s behalf what Arnold always town’s motto “serve one another”. referred to as “The Treaty of the Malthouse”. I knew about the treaty but I did not fully appreciate their On local government reorganisation, smaller councils like efforts until we moved here. Amersham Rural District Council and Chesham Urban District Council were dissolved to be replaced by a Thank you Arnold and your team. new larger authority. In our case it was Chiltern District Bernard Meldrum, Member

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In this month’s regular column we feature the Notes from our friendsChesham In Bloom voluntary group and No.3 Chesham In Bloom fi nd out what they have been getting up to. Chesham in Bloom IT has been a very busy year for Chesham in Bloom and for a small voluntary group we have done an awful lot. If you were to ask us what our best achievement for the year was, you might expect us to say winning the Best Large Town prize in our regional final of Britain in Bloom. Or, maybe winning the Silver Gilt award for Chesham, scoring just a few points below a coveted Gold. But, as lovely as these awards are, it is the real differences we have made to Chesham of which we are most proud. In 2013 we have created new flower beds in White Hill and at Chesham Open Air Pool in Moor Road. We also totally revamped the brick planters in Market as fertilising existing displays of bulbs, to ensure that Square using free seeds from the Royal Horticultural the entrances to the town will provide a cheerful Society to provide a flourish of colour throughout summer welcome in the spring. and autumn before the start of the culvert repairs. We would love more volunteers to come on board so We also worked with the Reasons To Be Cheerful artists that we can do even more in 2014. Even if you only have to install a new flowerbed and piece of art in the sunken a couple of hours to spare per year, it all adds up to garden at Chesham Station. make a huge difference. To complement the work of Chesham’s guerrilla gardener, If you can not volunteer, entering our spring or summer who does such a wonderful job on the St Mary’s Way garden competitions, or becoming a member at a cost flowerbeds, we removed the ivy that was swamping the of just £1, are other ways of showing your support. two beds closest to the Lowndes Park zebra crossing For more information, visit www.chesham.gov.uk/ and planted them up with colourful annuals. Chesham_in_Bloom.aspx or call Kathryn on Our work is year round, so we have been busy planting 01494 583 798 or email [email protected]. crocuses and daffodils at a number of locations, as well Kathryn Graves

Heritage Open Day 2014 MANY of you will remember the fantastic Heritage Open Day NewsBois Moor inquarry Brief site which the Chesham Society hosted in September 2012 when MANY of you will have been we had over 1,500 visitors to 11 sites in and around Chesham. disappointed that Ed Wetham, a The Chesham Society has hosted Heritage Open Day for many consultant working for the owners of years on a biennial basis so we are starting planning for Sunday, the site, was unable to speak at our September14 2014. meeting on October 16. We of course hope to be able to open old favourites such as The Discussions are ongoing with the aim Bury and the Friends Meeting House but we are on the lookout of securing the lakes for the enjoyment for new sites to open. of Chesham’s residents. Chiltern District Council is finalising The committee has thought of some but if you know of a building, the Delivery Development Plan Document (DDPD) and The garden or something else of interest that you would like to visit Chesham Society has requested that this site be included in the then please let a committee member know, preferably with a DDPD as a potential public amenity for Chesham. contact name to approach. Tony Molesworth

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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM Membership Type Dates for your diary! Annual subscription price - Please tick relevant box All meetings will be held at Chesham Town Hall, Baines Walk. Doors open at 7.30pm for 8pm unless Individual £12.00 Student £6.00 stated otherwise. Family/Couple £15.00 Corporate £28.00 OAP Household £9.00 Non-Profit £15.00 Thursday, December 12, 7.30pm Organisation Christmas Members’ Social Evening, Your details Title ...... Council chamber - free Full Name ...... All members are invited to this social event, along with representatives of associated organisations. There will be Address ...... wine, nibbles and mince pies supplied as a ‘thank you’ for ...... your help and support over the past year...... Postcode ......

Thursday, January 30 at 7.30pm E-mail address ......

Annual General Meeting Telephone number ......

Chesham Town Hall, Council Chamber We would like to send you information about The Chesham Society or its partners, including ‘Focus’, which we believe may be of interest to you. If you would prefer not to Members are invited to receive the report of the officers receive this information please tick and accounts for the year ending December 31, 2013 at the society’s Annual General Meeting. Payment and Gift Aid I enclose a cheque made payable to ‘The Chesham Society’ for £ ...... A ballot will be held to elect the officers and committee. I would like to pay by standing order and have completed the standing order form below Refreshments will be served at the close of the meeting. SIGN BELOW TO INCREASE THE VALUE OF YOUR DONATION

Wednesday, February 19 ......

WW2 Experiences I want the Chesham Society to reclaim tax on all donations I’ve made in the Chesham Town Hall, Lowndes Room. Doors last 4 years and on all future donations until I notify you otherwise. I pay 7.30pm for 8pm start sufficient income tax and/or capital gains tax to equal the amount that will be reclaimed (currently 25p for every £1). Speaker: Steven Frank SIGNED ...... Steven Frank will be talking about his experiences during the Second World War. He was born into a secular Jewish DATE ...... family in Amsterdam Holland. Standing Order Form His father was a well known Dutch lawyer who was Name of your bank ...... born in Zwolle, the son of a doctor. His mother was the daughter of professional musicians who emigrated to Bank Address ...... England at the turn of the nineteenth century. He has an ...... elder and younger brother. Sort Code ...... With the outbreak of war the family, despite having ample opportunity to flee to Britain, decided to remain in Account Name ...... Holland mainly because his father was the legal member Account Number ...... of a board that governed one of the most advanced Jewish mental hospitals in the world and many workers Instructions to bank in the field of mental health visited this place Please pay to The Chesham Society, sort code 20-02-06, account number 30250953 at Barclays Bank, High Street, Chesham the sum of £______, quoting reference number ______, now and on the 5th of January annually All meetings are in the Town Hall at 7.30 for 8pm until further notice. Please cancel any previous orders made by me in favour unless stated otherwise of The Chesham Society.

Admission charges: members £1, guests £2; which SIGNED ...... DATE ...... includes tea/coffee and biscuits. Please return this form to: The Treasurer, Weir Lodge, Latimer Road, Contact Emily Culverhouse if you have any queries Chesham HP5 1QQ or C/O 54 Church Street Chesham HP5 1HG

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winter 2013.indd 7 12/4/2013 6:51:44 PM The Chesham Society CALA Homes’ planning application for former college site in Lycrome Road CALA Homes has submitted a revised planning application that follows more closely the guidelines in the Core Strategy for identifi ed Major Developed Sites within the green belt allocated for housing. This redevelopment is for 45 dwellings, including 18 Since this is a Major Development Site within the Core affordable housing units, and provision for outdoor space Strategy, the Chesham Society has requested that approval and sport facilities. the Chesham Society has raised no is considered and agreed at full committee level of Chiltern objections on this occasion but has asked the Planning District Council. Committee in the course of its examination to further Mention must also be made of the Sunnymede Avenue consider: Residents’ Association, in particular John Docwra, Janice The two storey blocks present a slab sided profile and Rooney and Roger Smith who participated in Core Strategy are still relatively close and above the level of Lycrome Road. public hearings and submitted detailed comments to both It will be preferable if the site is levelled so these buildings applications from CALA Homes. The association remain can be lowered to the same level as the road to reduce the opposed to this application. This is a good illustration of impact on the green belt. the need for Neighbourhood Plans. It is important for the whole of Chesham that the green belt on its eastern edge, The allocation of 1.5 parking spaces per apartment which is not protected by AONB status, is not encroached may prove problematic since there are few other available upon. Lycrome Road residents could be in the line of fire. parking spaces within the rest of the site. The change from educational to residential use may STOP PRESS increase traffic flow problems at the adjacent busy junction CDC’s Planning Department has just advised it has received of Lycrome Road with Ashley Green Road and Nashleigh Hill. amended plans showing the two blocks of flats along A redevelopment on this scale will have a significant Lycrome Road with a lower slab level and reduced roof impact on water usage, surface drainage, sewage, and traffic height as well as additional car parking spaces. There are 14 into Chesham. Each of these services is already running close days to comment. It appears our two major concerns may to capacity. The developer should be asked to contribute have been addressed. towards the cost of increasing capacity. Tony Molesworth

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President: Jennifer Moss 868667 Chairman: Tony Molesworth 773381 E: [email protected] Vice Chairman: David Carter 772383 Treasurer: Judith Aldridge 07854 703664 E: [email protected] Secretary: Vacant E: [email protected] Design & layout: Andy Roker Programme & Events Emily Culverhouse E: [email protected] Offi cer T: 01494 775489 E: [email protected] Focus Editor: Camilla Goodman 07796 124896 E: [email protected] Photography: Contributors Special Projects: (HS2) Jim Conboy 791291 E: [email protected] Printed by: Ink Link, Membership Secretary: Vacant E: [email protected] Unit 4, Waterside Business Park Planning: Vacant Waterside, Chesham, HP5 1PE Members currently without portfolio: Mora Walker 783090 T: 01494 791320 E: [email protected] Richard Brock W: www.inklinkprinters.co.uk

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