WDLP14 00651 From: Sent: 01 April 2014 20:45 To: NewLocalPlan Cc: [email protected] Subject: Princes Risborough expansion Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Completed Dear Sir/Madam, I am given to believe that there are plans in the pipeline to expand the housing stock in Princes Risborough. My family moved to Risboro in January 2014. We moved here due to the size of the town, its amenities and the nice friendly atmosphere. So far we have not been disappointed. I am now finding it very difficult to want to stay in the town if you start to add considerably more houses. I fully realise that you are doing this because it is being forced upon you by the government. Just because they want you to do it doesn't mean you have to. As I understand it there will be an expansion of the town whether we want it or not. The only thing up for debate is the quantity of houses and where they go. I am in agreement with the RARA in as much as not wanting to breach the Aylesbury railway line boundary and not wanting £26 million spent on a new relief road. Regards Russell Abraham 1 WDLP14 00652 From: Sent: 01 April 2014 21:28 To: NewLocalPlan Subject: Proposed Development within Longwick & Princes Risborough Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Completed Dear Sirs/Madam High Wycombe is the main hub for commercial organisations for employment, therefore to propose building houses in Longwick Village is really not acceptable. Longwick has provided some new homes in demand for local growth but there is little commerce and the community has a cohesive population which works well together. As a possible development plan a small development of 20 houses could be built off of Sawmill Road to keep the village compact, but the field that adjoins Williams Way would cause a mismatch of houses and off Bar Lane would cause more issues with traffic. Princes Risborough is a small market town and has beautiful views overlook the Chilterns. It is attractive for residents and tourists alike. It again has no commercial value and no new employers so does not need the proposed 2500 homes. The local plan for Princes Risborough does not need upgrading as it has managed to provide all housing growth required. Longwick will become a suburb of Princes Risborough, instead of a village if the proposed development goes over 450 homes which have already been approved. Traffic will increase especially along the Longwick Road, into Lower Icknield Way and Thame Road as these roads are particularly busy now and we are already receiving far too heavy traffic such as lorries and juggernauts travelling on these small roads, so further development of large housing estates will spoil our attractive village and small market town. Please consider the points that we have raised carefully, as we do not wish to become one sprawling housing estate! Regards Valerie & Ian McPherson 5 The Willows Longwick Bucks HP27 9RQ 1 WDLP14 00653 WDLP14 00654 From: Sent: 01 April 2014 20:48 To: NewLocalPlan Cc: Michael Appleyard; Brian Pollock; [email protected] Subject: Slate Meadow plans, Wooburn Green Follow Up Flag: Follow up Flag Status: Completed To the Planning Policy Team, Re: possible development of Slate Meadow in Wooburn Green under your new "Local plan". We are writing to object in the strongest possible terms to your development plans. I have been to your information event at Bourne End Library and it is clear that you are unaware of many local issues which are relevant to this specific site. Here are my reasons for objecting: The site is a flood plain. You even show this in your own literature. Surely it would be absolutely ludicrous to build on a flood plain after what some areas of our country have been through recently, most notably a stretch of the nearby Thames. Even if statistically the river is only likely to flood every so often, by building on a green space then you are taking away all of that area which the rain water can naturally and slowly sink into. I understand that there are all sorts of whizzy drainage solutions but I am sure that there is no way they could compete with the natural effect of a field. By building here you will be decreasing the lag time which it takes for the rain water to reach streams and rivers. If you decrease the lag time then you are much more likely to get flash floods. Again, I'd remind you of the devastating effects of flooding only weeks ago in nearby Cookham, Marlow, and further downstream. Of course there is also the problem of ground water. This has been a problem just a few hundred yards away in Cores End Road recently. The A4094 Town lane/Brookbank is already busy for much of the day, but especially so during rush hour and school run times. It is already quite a challenge to pull out on to it in my car. Many local children walk along what is a very narrow pavement in some places. I have to say that even at the moment it doesn't feel very safe and if you increase the traffic here (175 houses will do this by a considerable amount) then you are increasing the risk of accidents, and also from a more superficial point of view, not making it a very nice place to live and walk beside. The road simply can't cope. A colleague of my husband was very nearly killed a few months ago just a little further on towards Bourne end by a car coming off the road. They didn't think that he was going to make it. Young children are even more vulnerable, especially when on scooters and bikes. Current housing developments on a number of sites between Wooburn Green and Loudwater will only increase the traffic along this stretch of road. And with a high volume of commercial vehicles and indeed articulated lorries also using this road to access the industrial estate on nearby Thomas Road, further development of this size will place an unbearable burden on this stretch of road (A4094 from Loudwater towards Maidenhead and Marlow). 1 WDLP14 00654 We have a fabulous doctors surgery In Wooburn Green but they are already stretched. It takes up to 3 weeks to get an appointment at the moment, unless it is an emergency appointment. If you build all these houses then there will be even more pressure on the surgery. I understand your point about new houses providing new money to increase services. But I think you will find that there is no more room for doctors/nurses etc. Even little things like the availability of parking outside the surgery will be stretched. This may sound menial but when you have 2 small children in tow things like being able to park close by make life much easier and safer. Again, other nearby developments will place increased strain on this service. We are very concerned about where all the new families' children will go to school. Do you know how popular and over subscribed St Paul's School is? There simply is not the space for expansion. Also we have chosen this school for our children because it is a small caring school. We believe that this type of school will support our children in the best possible way by nurturing them in a cosy environment and ultimately helping them to become secure, confident and useful members of society. Even if you could increase the size of the school and provide all the extra resources/ teachers etc the school would lose what I believe to be one of its fundamentally strongest points. I speak with considerable experience in the matter as I am a teacher and have no doubt that young children benefit greatly from smaller settings where everyone is known. We gather that development plans for this site have been previously refused and so find it hard to understand what has changed to make this a possibility now. The road is now busier than ever and extreme weather events are becoming more common. If anything, those grounds for refusal are now more valid than ever. I personally feel that you need to stand up to the higher powers who are putting pressure on you to build. There are already enough houses and jobs in Wooburn Green and no more are required. Where will this all end? Are you going to build all over another field every few years? In which case you will find that the very reason why people want to live in our lovely village with a great community disappears and no one will want to live in yet another urban sprawl. In your own information you say that you want to keep villages special. If you develop Slate Meadow then Wooburn Green will merge into Bourne End and both villages will become one. This proposal provides an incredibly short-termed solution, whereas being responsible for planning policy, you should consider the damaging effects that it will have in generations to come. I disagree that more houses are needed as if you want to live in Wooburn Green then you can just buy one of the existing houses. We recently did and it was all very easy. In fact there were at least 3 houses which we could have bought and at no point did we think that there is a housing shortage problem in the area. FYI - we are an average income family needing a typical 3 bed family home, nothing fancy!.