Lands Improvement has issued the following public statement, dated Thursday 22nd February 2018.
The notice published on the airfield has been issued by Buckinghamshire County Council in response to a statutory declaration made by Lands Improvement under Section 31(6) of the 1980 Highways Act which enables a landowner to protect itself against any new public rights of way being registered on their land. This is standard practice for landowners and it has nothing to do with development.
Regarding the glider club, Lands Improvement have been willingly helping the Club for many years by effectively subsidising their rent.
Since November 2016, Lands Improvement have been actively discussing relocation options with the glider club and have sought to support them in this process, including investigating alternative locations and offering to assist with relocation costs. To date, four meetings have taken place with them, the most recent being on 9th February. There is now a serious expression of interest from a commercial developer to acquire the last parcel of land at the business park (which already has planning consent for B Class commercial use) where the glider club hangar and access road is located.
Lands Improvement now need access to this whole parcel to carry out ground investigations in order to prepare it for the sale. This new development will provide small business units, bringing further investment and jobs to Haddenham and building on the success of Haddenham as an important employment location in Aylesbury Vale.
Given this recent commercial interest in this parcel, Lands Improvement have asked the club to vacate the site sooner than originally anticipated. Linked to this, Lands Improvement have taken the decision to return the airstrip land to agricultural use and this will be ploughed and a maize crop sown in April.
Lands Improvement have organised for the glider club equipment and hangar structure to be stored, at Lands Improvement's cost, while the Club investigate alternative locations to operate from. Lands Improvement are committed to supporting the Club in this process.
As part of a more general update, a detailed planning application on the already consented care home will be submitted in May, and an application for a retail convenience store and new children's nursery adjacent to the care home will be submitted in March/April. These will deliver further useful community facilities for Haddenham.
CALA are underway on the construction of their new homes and the new playing pitches have been laid out. On the business park, both GGR and DAF are nearing completion of construction works and will be in occupation in the coming months. The interest and take up of the commercial space on the business park is incredibly encouraging and will bring a significant amount of inward investment into the village in terms both of new jobs and spend in the local economy.
Lands Improvement have a long history in Haddenham and we are committed to delivering high quality development and continuing to engage positively with the local community."
Statement ends.
For those residents who are less than familiar with the history of the airfield, please see this website.
The Upward Bound Trust has offered gliding training to youg people for many years. Their website is here:
http://www.ubt.org.uk
