Waddesdon resolution

• An underpass for the A41 at Grand Lodge would retain the approach to Waddesdon and ensure that drivers would pass Grand Lodge, which is crucial to the relevance of the lodge, remains. • The underpass would remove the proposed overbridge to the north of Grand Lodge which would sit reasonably high in the landscape and with it bring the illumination from required street lamps and impacts of headlights at this level. • The dangerous junction at Grand Lodge is still greatly improved through a reduction in traffic and construction activities are further away from Waddesdon village. • The unclassified Blackgrove Road is rerouted rather than the A41 and the future option for a Waddesdon Waddesdon relief road is still facilitated. • Flood management of the underpass is low cost, very achievable and could be powered by photovoltaic cells. HS2

A special place The impacts of HS2 © National Trust 2015. The National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846. Photography © National Trust Images/John Miller and Avella. Printed on 100% recycled paper. Please recycle after use. Proposals to improve HS2

HS2 Waddesdon A4 4pp AW.indd 1-2 30/04/2015 11:28 History of Waddesdon

•  and Estate was built in the 1870s by Baron to display his outstanding collection of art treasures and to entertain the fashionable world. • The house is surrounded by views of , Oxfordshire, the Chilterns Hills and the Vale of . • It contains historic French furniture and decorative arts from the 18th century with magnificent English portraits and Dutch Old Masters. • Waddesdon has one of the finest Victorian gardens in Britain and this is acknowledged in its Grade I status. • It attracted 393,000 visitors in 2013, making Waddesdon the third most visited National Trust property in the country. • The Manor and 64 hectares were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957 with surrounding property and estate owned and managed by the Waddesdon Estate and the Rothschild Foundation.

Waddesdon’s Grand Lodge Impact on Waddesdon

The design and location of The Grand Lodge are intended to be outward looking and this is accepted by HS2 Ltd:

‘The setting of the building contributes to its value; the building is designed to be seen from its surroundings, and provide a dramatic statement about the park. It is the only element of the park that is considered to be

Illustration: Queen Victoria outward looking.’ arriving through Grand Lodge. The problem at Grand Lodge: Grand Lodge • Grand Lodge is designed to be conspicuous. • The current alignment removes the historic line of access to Grand Lodge. • To mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, £700,000 was spent to clean and conserve the • In the current plans the purpose of the Grand Lodge is greatly diminished and the visitor’s masonry of Grand Lodge itself. appreciation, upon arrival from Aylesbury, becomes disjointed. • The majority of visitors arrive by car, and by post-code analysis we judge that 70% arrive from the • Possibility of opening up Grand Lodge as the principal visitor entrance is an ‘opportunity lost’. Aylesbury direction, therefore Grand Lodge. • The A41 also crosses over HS2 and introduces an alien feature which lies high in a relatively • As Aylesbury expands over the next few years, a process which is already underway, more visitors flat landscape. will approach from that side. • The roundabout with the realigned A41 and Blackgrove Road to the north of Grand Lodge would sit • Waddesdon currently receives a total of 364,000 visitors annually, this equates to £4,300,000 in high in the surrounding landscape and with it bring the intrusive effects from the lighting required terms of value of the business to the National Trust alone. and from car headlights at this raised level. • Visitor numbers are projected to rise to 425,000 by 2018 and to 500,000 by 2025, the importance of Grand Lodge as the first architectural statement of the property will only grow.

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