Fears of traffic and a squeeze on education

Jul 28 2010 By Hannah Williams , Buckinghamshire Examiner

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WORRIES about increased traffic, extra pressure on school places and fears for children's safety when a 250-home development is built were raised by anxious parish councillors this week.

Little Chalfont Parish Council discussed a planning application submitted by Persimmon Homes to redevelop the former sawmill site in Bell Lane.

An original application was rejected by Chiltern District Council (CDC) in 2007 but an outline application was approved on appeal in September 2008.

Detailed plans have been submitted to CDC showing a combination of blocks of flats up to three-and-a-half storeys high, alongside a mix of terraced, detached and semi-detached houses and an equipped play area.

Councillor Lesley Hunt said: "It's a done deal and we can't change that or how many houses are going on it. My concern is there will be 500 cars coming out of this site between 8am and 9am every morning.

Two-hundred-and-fifty houses will have two cars each, they will turn left then right straight down Elizabeth Avenue as it's a nice long straight road. My main concern is it turning where there's a blind bend."

Councillor Gary Smith, who produced a report to the committee on Tuesday, criticised the developer for placing cheaper social housing next to nearby warehouses to act as what it called an 'urban buffer' between them and the rest of the site.

He said: "There's no community spaces, no meeting places, nothing where you can have anything like a youth club. There is a developer likely to accommodate lots and lots of children and no space for them whatsoever. The design was taken on purely architectural grounds, with no understanding whatsoever of the needs of a development of this nature.

"I think it's very obvious what's social housing and what isn't. I think we could afford to lose one or two houses to improve the amenity value of these blocks."

However, committee chairman Chris Ingam disagreed: "It seems to me we don't have ghettoisation - the blocks of flats are spread along the southern and eastern areas of the site."

Councillors also expressed fears about the safety of the location of a proposed unequipped play area in a remote corner next to a footbridge.

Councillor Christine Gibbs said: "I walked across the bridge in the winter, it was full of lager bottles. It's obviously a congregation point."

The council also agreed to suggest the planned equipped play area to a more central location and to ask the county council what is being done to find extra school primary and secondary schools places.

Mr Smith added: "My particular concern is the council used public funds for a children's centre at Bell Lane School when there's no more land available at the school for additional places."

CDC's planning committee is expected to decide on the plans in September, with work on the site being required to begin within three years.