Agenda item

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration and Councillor Steven Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport

 As part of the Buckingham Transport Strategy and the A421 Corridor, Buckingham Town Council will be starting the process of developing and updating the neighbourhood plan in line with current development plans. Will the Council and the Cabinet Member for Transport and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration be consulting and working in partnership with the Town Council at the earliest opportunity on a feasible route for the A421 Corridor sharing detailed advice bearing in mind previous historical discussions relating to the A421 & A413 Roundabout and the Council’s legal obligations including carrying out site visits and ensuring the needs of local residents will be taken into account ?

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Peter Strachan, Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration and Councillor Steven Broadbent, Cabinet Member for Transport

“As part of the Buckingham Transport Strategy and the A421 Corridor, Buckingham Town Council will be starting the process of developing and updating the neighbourhood plan in line with current development plans. Will the Council and the Cabinet Member for Transport and the Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration be consulting and working in partnership with the Town Council at the earliest opportunity on a feasible route for the A421 Corridor sharing detailed advice bearing in mind previous historical discussions relating to the A421 & A413 Roundabout and the Council’s legal obligations including carrying out site visits and ensuring the needs of local residents will be taken into account?”

RESPONSE from Councillor Broadbent:

Thank you for this question Cllr Stuchbury. We welcome the update to the Buckingham Neighbourhood Plan to take account of the revised development plans in the area following the adoption of the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan. 

In reference to the A421 corridor itself, you and other local ward members along the route have been involved in discussions with the Council’s Transport Strategy team who are preparing to undertake a technical study to assess the A421 corridor and its links into the neighbouring areas (especially towards Milton Keynes, Bicester, Silverstone Enterprise Zone and the new station planned for Winslow). This would naturally include the A421/A413 roundabout. 

This study aims to assess and appraise the efficiency of the road corridor for all modes of travel (cycling, buses as well as cars and freight) and then subsequently identify costed measures that will ensure that the route is robust enough to support future growth and expected increase in traffic. The study is due to commence in Autumn 2022. The Transport Strategy team will report back on the recommendations made to the Buckingham Town Council, and other parish councils along the route, when the study is completed (expected early 2023). We will include the Town Council’s views when determining next steps for this work.  

This is a relatively high level strategic study and as such there are no specific scheme proposals upon which to consult local residents. It is important that the timing of public consultation is appropriate to the situation and so when any measures identified by this study are taken forward into design and feasibility, there will be a public consultation exercise with the views of local residents taken into account at this stage.

Question from Councillor Susan Morgan to Councillor Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources and Councillor Tett, Leader of the Council

“The Growth, Infrastructure and Housing Select Committee on 5 July referred this matter back to Cabinet to consider the results of the public consultation before any decision was confirmed. In my opinion, the consultation itself was flawed. Only a small boundary of houses surrounding the Bucks CC Sports and Social Club were asked to take part in the public consultation and yet, residents from a much wider area are affected by this decision. It's noted in the report that while Stoke Mandeville Parish Council were consulted they have yet to make a legal and formal decision in support/against development on this land. In the emerging Stoke Mandeville Neighbourhood Plan this site is listed as Local Green Space and for the first 2 years after closure residents were allowed to access this space until it was fenced off in March 2020. However, the Leader stated at the last Cabinet meeting that this land was not, nor had ever been, public open space. Cabinet should make sure that this land is formally changed in the emerging Stoke Mandeville Neighbourhood Plan before making a decision or this will hugely affect any planning decision.

Cabinet is requested to consider a proposal given to residents by Stoke Mandeville Parish Council at their last meeting, to come up with a new business plan by September, incorporating the additional 700 houses that have been built since the club closed, and delay any decision on this land until October 2022 to give the residents an opportunity to either prove or disprove whether this is a viable option? This would also give the Cabinet Member time to complete a more detailed comprehensive public consultation.”

RESPONSE from Councillor Chilver:

The Cabinet report on this proposal has been referred back to Cabinet, together with the Consultation report Summary and is covered on today’s agenda. This follows on from the input at Select Committee. The paper asks for authority to submit an outline planning application with the intention of bringing forward a mixed development of affordable housing for local people and market housing around a green open space. Although the report looks at an affordable housing provision of 30%, there is an opportunity that the percentage of affordable housing could be as high as 60%, that would be decided upon in a subsequent delivery report. There are also plans for a community sports and leisure facility.

You state that in your opinion the consultation process was ‘flawed’. I would disagree. A Local leaflet drop was undertaken and, in addition, there was a wider consultation process. This will be set out in the Response summary report which will be in the Cabinet report. Furthermore, posters were displayed on all the Parish Council’s 8 notice boards, including the Eskdale Community Centre, in addition to a link to the consultation process being included on the Stoke Mandeville Parish Council Website, and finally on launch day a news press release was sent to local media including the Bucks Herald, the Bucks Free Press and Greatest Hits Radio.

In terms of future consultation, if Cabinet decide an application should be submitted, there will be a further statutory round of publicity by the Council as Local Planning Authority, both on site and in the press. This will afford an opportunity for the Community to submit their comments on the application to the Local Planning Authority. Furthermore, all local Members and statutory consultees will be consulted by the Local Planning Authority during the planning application process.

The Council has been in consultation with Stoke Mandeville Parish Council for some months and the proposed emerging masterplan is a reflection of those discussions. Although the Council hopes the site will be allocated in the emerging Buckinghamshire Local Plan, it is acknowledged it is not yet formally adopted. The Cabinet will need to consider if the consultation with the Local Community as set out in this response and the papers before Cabinet are sufficient to support the report recommendations. One point for Members to consider will be the letter from Stoke Mandeville Parish Council agreeing that they will not designate the site as green open space.

With regard to the claim that this site has been publicly accessible open space, since the time the site operated as a Council owned Sports and Social Club for staff and family of the former County Council, it did so as a members club. During that time and since it has remained fenced and not available for public use.  The only new substantial fencing was to separate the temporary NHS trust car park to prevent Hospital staff accessing the remainder of the site in 2021. The site has never been dedicated public open space.

Regarding the emerging Stoke Mandeville Neighbourhood Plan, and the weight would carry once adopted in consideration of a planning application, it would be a significant consideration, but as can be seen from the information provided, considerable Consultation has occurred which is informing the paper before Cabinet.

Finally, the Planning Process will take some time and if a viable alternative business plan is produced by the local community in the Autumn, it can be submitted and would be considered by Members.