Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Peter Cooper.

To agree the minutes of the Strategic Sites Committee meeting held on 16 March 2023.

Resolved:  The minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2023 were agreed as an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.

Councillor Richard Newcombe declared a non-prejudicial interest in that he was a Buckinghamshire Council representative on the Chilterns Conservation Board (CCB).  Councillor Newcombe stated that the application under consideration was not within the area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) for the which the CCB had responsibility, however, the area was of relevance to the AONB and the CCB had made a significant contribution on the application.  Councillor Newcombe advised that he had no part in discussing, formulating or approving the observations and did not consider himself to be pre-determined.  Councillor Newcombe also stated that he was a ward councillor for the area for the application but had not declared his views, for or against, the application in any meeting within the ward and therefore was not predetermined on that basis either.

Proposal: South East Aylesbury Link Road (Phase 2) improvement scheme including dual carriageway (for the Stoke Mandeville Relief Road and to provide connection with the South West Aylesbury Link Road), new roundabout, lighting columns, maintenance bays and access points, diverted public right of way, uncontrolled crossing, provision of two shared cycle/footways, noise bunds and barriers, relocated field accesses, grass verges, road restraint systems, mammal tunnel, flood compensation storage areas, woodland planting, landscaping, habitat creation, drainage ponds and swales, substation and associated infrastructure and earthworks.

A site visit was carried out on 14 March 2023.

Sue Pilcher, Principal Planner, provided a verbal update to the report as follows:

·    Paragraph 5.55 referred to waste minimisation and the reference to the paragraph number should be 5.144 not 5.143.

·    Further updates had been received on the retention of the black poplar and S Pilcher was in the process of advertising the amendments with site and press notices which would expire on 5 May 2023. 

The recommendation remained as set out in the report.

Speaking as the applicant and agent team, Matthew Stopford, Alan Owen and Panos Pitrakou.

It was proposed by Councillor Richard Newcombe and seconded by Councillor Jonathan Waters and agreed at a vote: 

Resolved:  that the application be deferred and delegated to the Director of Planning and Environment for approval subject to the conditions as proposed (with any amendments as necessary) and any others considered appropriate by Officers and subject to the completion of the current publicity period and receipt of no new material representations being received.

And subject to an amendment to condition 21 to include reference to provide a deeper belt of trees to be planted and further landscaping as outlined in paragraph 5.34.

And subject to an informative to say that the potential increase in water flow to Stoke Brook resulting from the HS2 works being undertaken needs to be considered to ensure no unacceptable flooding results.