The Chesham Society £1 when sold Volume 164 Autumn 2020 Established 1957 A pool for all seasons: Water in Chesham’s open-air pool is kept at an average 28°all the year round. Opened in 1912, the pool has undergone several face-lifts since then. When Chesham Leisure Centre was built, a voluntary organisation was formed to save this much-loved facility from closure. The pool is currently open to competent swimmers, for lane swimming only. Photo © Chesham Moor Gym and Swim Page 7-9 The man who built Page 15 New to Blucher Street Chesham Chesham in bloom Impasse in St Mary’s Way Chesham Society Quarterly Quiz Page 16 Hard at work come rain Page 10 Some good news for the or shine In this issue River Chess Sewage summit at Page 2 Coming our way Sarratt Page 17 Something for everyone: Chess Valley U3A Every one a Page 3 Chairman’s report Page 10 Shop locally for winner Editor’s letter Christmas Don’t forget the tree Page 18 The Elgiva opens again Page 4 Planning for the future Page 12 A season of celebration In the foyer now, in the Chilterns Page 5 All to play for: Chesham Page 19 Join the Chesham Page 13 Beautiful but brazen Masterplan back in the mix Society Page 14 Mixed blessing for Page 6 Behind the scenes: happy Church Street A load of old Page 20 A breath of fresh air memories of ‘HODS’ rubbish Contacts and credits Putting Cheshamwww.cheshamsociety.org.uk first www.facebook.com/cheshamsociety @cheshamsociety The Chesham Society Coming our way If work on HS2 runs to schedule (and sadly, as this point, it might) ‘early 2021’ will see the launch of Florence and Cecelia, the two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) which will be eating their way beneath the Chilterns. The names were chosen in a competition, but our suggestions (Plague and Pestilence), although topical, were overlooked. HS2 Ltd has also announced that structural work has been completed for the pre-cast factory site on the same site. The temporary factory will produce the concrete segments used to line the tunnel. Above: The two 2000 tonne machines, Local developments measuring over 170 metres in length, will be The destruction of Bottom House Farm Lane is nearing launched at the south portal site beside the completion, and National Grid have finished their work M25 to start work on the 10-mile stretch of above Great Missenden – although HS2 are attempting the Chiltern tunnel – the longest and deepest to extend the footpath closures while they round up of all 32 miles of tunnels on Phase One of HS2. newts. Consultation on the design of the Amersham Operating a ‘continuous boring’ technique, they vent shaft (next to the hospital) closed recently; the are expected to take around 3 years to excavate HS2 design council saw this as a suitable place for a the 9.1m metre diameter tunnels, moving at triumphalist feature to mark their subjugation of the a speed of 15.6 metres a day. The TBMs will AONB; the local response may be unfavourable, but will convert the spoil into slurry which will be anybody notice? pumped back to the South Portal near Denham Jim Conboy where it will be dried before being used for landscaping on-site. Top: Design for the Amersham Vent Shaft Left: Beyond the tunnel, the line crosses the Colne Valley lakes and the Grand Union canal on a viaduct, giving passengers a brief glimpse of countryside after leaving the next tunnel at Northolt. All Photos © HS2 Ltd 2 Putting Chesham first Focus Autumn 2020 AUTUMN 2020Chairman’s report Our ‘Back to Normal’ report unfortunately remains on hold, and a report on the ‘New Normal’ was deemed by the editor to be too depressing – so we now present Reasons to be Cheerful Local developments include • No new National Lockdown ! 32 new flats off Preston Hill, and the redevelopment of 34 • No new Local Lockdown ! Germain Street – both of which • The ‘second wave’ appears far less threatening than will increase congestion on our the first. roads. Any mitigation for this seems unlikely. On the • Most pubs are open, despite the restrictions to brighter side, the River Chess Association’s campaigns opening hours are at last having some success – Affinity Water have • Only a few shops have closed, even though the announced they will cease abstraction from two opening hours of many are not what they used to be local boreholes, and Thames will attempt to control • Far less queuing than a few months back. groundwater inflow into their sewers, the main cause of overflows at the Chesham works. How about more That’s enough excitement for one paragraph. Meanwhile: schools, doctors and dentists next ? Planning HS2 The government has launched two consultations – one On the down side (again), HS2 continues to disrupt to reform housing allocation under the present system, the Chilterns, as described elsewhere. One effect of and another to sweep the system away and start again granting them absolute powers within the act limits ( see ‘Planning for the Future’ in this edition). The new is that once they gain control of an area, it’s gone for housing allocation algorithm appears to have been good – see for example Bottom House Farm Lane, designed before the epidemic, takes no account of Whielden Lane (still closed), the footpaths between Gt resulting movement out of London, and increases the Missenden and Potter Row, and more recently Jones house allocation in Chiltern & South Bucks by a factor Hill Wood. The main contractors start work next year, of 3, to make housing more affordable. You can read our so things can only get worse. response on the Campaigns page of our website. Jim Conboy Editor’s letter On behalf of our many contributors, I would like to thank Chesham Society members for their kind reception of our summer Focus, put together during lockdown. It was, as always, a team effort. As you will see in this edition, our society events may remain on-hold but we are still able to report on plenty of other activity in and around the town. There is some good news for Chesham Renaissance and the River Chess; The Elgiva is up and running, there are some fresh faces in Blucher Street and – in one respect at least – the High Street is still blooming. This autumn Focus would normally carry a report on Heritage Open Days. Whilst Chesham’s contribution to the event fell victim to the virus, we have kept the spotlight on our local surroundings with a special pictorial piece on Jesse Meade, The Man Who Built Chesham. We also introduce a new quarterly quiz compiled by the mysterious ‘Mathilda’, who included this photograph when sending in the piece. Let’s hope she can stay awake long enough to send us the answers! Jean Slater www.cheshamsociety.org.uk www.facebook.com/cheshamsociety @cheshamsociety 3 The Chesham Society Planning for the future On 6th August the government launched a The White Paper also proposes that land will be consultation on Planning for the Future, its categorised as follows: White Paper on planning reform, with a closing • Protected areas – development on Green Belt land along date of 29th October. with Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and those judged to have “rich heritage” will continue to be In his foreword the Prime Minister urges the need for restricted as now with policy remaining a decision for “radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the local authorities as they prepare their plans. Second World War …. a whole new planning system for England.” • Growth areas – land suitable for growth will be approved for development while plans are prepared, meaning new homes, schools, shops and business space can be built quickly and efficiently, as long as local design standards are met. • Renewal areas – land appropriate for renewal will enable much quicker development where it is well designed in a way which reflects community preferences. A ‘critical starting point’ In tandem with the White Paper, the government launched a separate consultation on proposed changes to the standard method for assessing local housing need, used to set housing targets for local authorities. The London Green Belt Council has already flagged up ‘serious concerns that the proposed new formula … would inevitably result in massive release of Green Belt land.’ Buckinghamshire Council acknowledges that the new method will be a ‘critical starting point’ The white paper promises a ‘significantly simpler, faster and in the preparation of the new Local Plan for the county, for more predictable system’ under which it states: which development work is now underway. Chesham Town Council has estimated that future targets could add some Local communities will be consulted from the very beginning 10-15% to our population, prompting their decision to of the planning process… undertake a Neighbourhood Plan for Chesham in order to • Green spaces will be protected for future generations by ‘set parameters on the question of housing, infrastructure and allowing for more building on brownfield land… the environment’. • Much-needed homes will be built quicker by ensuring local After the debacle of the Chiltern and South Bucks Local Plan, housing plans are developed and agreed in 30 months… and the demise of our district councils, keeping track of all this • Every area to have a local plan in place… planning can be quite a challenge. However, one thing is clear. In the words of Chesham Renaissance, taken from their website: • The planning process to be overhauled and replaced with ‘Buckinghamshire Council will have to develop a new plan for a clearer, rules-based system… the economic and social needs of the new authority.