It will have escaped the attention of very few Haddenham residents that the village is undergoing major housing development. Serious concerns have been expressed about the apparent piecemeal approach that is being taken by developers, and the lack of evidence of any strategic planning by local government in terms of traffic management, school provision and other vital facilities. Here, Brian Fattorini outlines his particular concerns.
John Bercow has written to Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, asking for his comments regarding the absence of a Local Plan and the emergence of speculative property developers. Land promoters are submitting planning applications which are being considered on an individual basis rather than as part of the whole and seemingly timed to beat the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan which is intended to be published for public comment in November.
The most recent application is for a high density estate comprising 285 dwellings (17/02280/AOP) on land West of Churchway. Directly opposite on land to the East of Churchway is a separate application for 72 dwellings (17/01225/AOP) submitted a few weeks earlier.
There is a question whether this latest site is actually suitable given lack of access towards the station or Business Park and with serious concerns over flooding. Perhaps of greatest concern is the high density proposed, 32 dwellings per hectare. This is in contrast to other similar sized local developments which have a much lower density but include sports areas, no such recreation areas are included with this. The density of any development that goes ahead here should also reflect the conservation area on which it borders.
This application is for an estate in isolation far away from the village heart where people will need to get in cars & drive their children to school, travel to the station, etc. In addition to this 285 + 72 dwellings there will also be 280 dwellings on the Glebe site (17/01841/ADP), 40 dwellings off Stanbridge Road (16/04527/ADP), 25 dwellings on Dollicot (15/02123/APP) and 5 dwellings off Townsend Green (17/02126/APP). The village will need to accommodate all of these new people as well as existing residents & those growing numbers coming in from neighbouring areas which are also undergoing expansion.
In December the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan Scrutiny Committee stated "Level of development in the villages – the justification for the percentage approach had been queried. Alternative approaches were now being considered based on the capacity of settlements to accommodate development."
Does Haddenham have the capacity to accommodate these developments?
Last date for comments to AVDC (17/02280/AOP) is Monday 7th August 2017:
https://publicaccess.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do
Comments can also be made to:
Parish Council members individually or through the Parish clerk
http://www.haddenham-bucks-pc.gov.uk/parish-council-members
AVDC Councillors; Judy Brandis, Michael Edmonds and Brian Foster's wards include Haddenham http://democracy.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx
Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/sajid-javid/3945
Rt Hon John Bercow MP
http://www.johnbercow.co.uk/contact
Village Society Comments
To read the most recent comments submitted to AVDC by the Haddenham Village Society, see here.
To read the comments of Hadenham Parish Council, click here.