COUNCILLORS have given the go-ahead for 106 new homes to be built on fields off Ashwells, by Cock Lane, Tylers Green – the biggest building development in the village for over 50 years.
There is concern among people in the area about the impact the extra traffic will have, particularly with regard to Tylers Green Middle School. Details on mitigating the impact have yet to be agreed between the developer and planning officials.
Those details include the possibility of traffic calming measures – probably speed humps – in New Road and Church Road and the provision of a pedestrian crossing between the school and the car park opposite.
The scheme involves the widening of the narrow section of Cock Lane at the Tylers Green end and a new entrance to the development off Cock Lane. The existing Aswells access road will also act as an access to the new estate.
There will be pedestrian and cycle access to the adjoining Gomm Valley, where further development is planned, thus enabling pedestrians and cyclists to avoid using the narrow Cock Lane.
Chepping Wycombe Parish Council felt the increased traffic in the area would prove dangerous to pupils and others visiting the middle school and it says there is insufficient parking provision on the new estate.
That in turn, the parish council said, would lead to overspill parking and dangerous conditions, particularly at school arriving and leaving times.
The initial planning application from the Hill Group brought 54 points of objection from members of the public and the revised approved application resulted in a further 24 points of objection.
Buckinghamshire Council’s refusal to publish individual comments from the public on planning applications (see September blog and story further down this blog) means the public’s views cannot be verified or seen. It also means that it is not known if the middle school itself commented on the plans and, if so, what its governors said.
Building work is expected to begin next year.
Safety fears over major battery storage plant near Penn Street
THE GOVERNMENT is to consider if fire safety precautions at a proposed big battery storage site near Penn are adequate.
Penn’s MP Sarah Green (Lib Dem, Chesham and Amersham) told MPs there was “understandable fear in the community” if the facility caught fire.
She was concerned that Buckinghamshire Fire Brigade was not officially asked to give its view on the battery energy storage system (Bess) which is planned at Mop End Farm near Penn Street, adjacent to the existing Amersham electricity sub-station. The energy company Voltis, which is proposing the scheme, says it is working with the fire brigade as plans progress.
A fire at a Bess facility in Essex in February took 24 hours to put out while a similar fire in Liverpool five years ago took 59 hours to extinguish.
In the House of Commons, Energy Minister Michael Shanks insisted battery storage technology is as safe as other technologies but nonetheless his department was looking to see if “there is more we can do around safety”. He said he would meet with Ms Green to specifically discuss the Mop End plan.
Battery energy storage sites act as a buffer to the National Grid, storing surplus electricity generated from sources such as wind and solar so it can be released when demand is high.
Voltis said it was vital the sub-station was able to increase its capacity. It serves not only this end of Buckinghamshire but also West London and extra power will be needed to supply new housing developments and the increasing number of data centres in the area.
The company says it will donate half a million pounds to the Chilterns Conservation Board to help mitigate the impact of the facility, which is located in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (now called Chilterns National Landscape) and the Green Belt.
Penn Parish Council, Hazlemere Parish Council and Little Missenden Parish Council are opposed to the scheme saying it would bring an industrial complex to the rural setting.
Local news
Stretching boundaries – Tylers Green fund raiser Ron Hedley is in Rome this month where his Prostate Cancer Awareness XI is playing a couple of cricket matches against St Peter’s Vatican Cricket Club to raise cash for his campaign as part of the Bob Willis Fund and raise awareness of the disease (see March blog). So far his sponsored walks and matches have raised over £75,000. He’s set up an Instagram page so people can follow the tour on https://www.instagram.com/prostate_cancer_awareness_xl?igsh=MWp3dTQyYXR4MW0wYQ==
Ron Hedley, centre, with his Prostate Cancer Awareness XI prepare for an international friendly against a USA XI at Winchmore Hill earlier this year. Picture: Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club.
Record crowd – Penn and Tylers Green Football Club attracted its largest ever crowd last month when over 1,200 people watched a second round Berks and Bucks Senior Cup game against a Wycombe Wanderers’ Professional Development group team – a squad of budding professional footballers. Penn lost 1-2 in a close game. Generously, Wanderers donated their half of the game’s proceeds to the village club.
Royal pardon sought – The grandchildren of Ruth Ellis, who was hanged for the murder of David Blakely, of Hammersley Lane, Tylers Green 70 years ago, have officially asked Justice Secretary David Lammy to recommend a Royal pardon posthumously on the grounds she was beaten and abused by Blakely. She is buried in Amersham and he in Penn churchyard.
Car thefts – A number of car thefts were reported on local social media last month conducted, it appears, by a gang with the ability to get past the security systems of keyless cars.
Student changes – Buckinghamshire Council has told Sir William Ramsay School in Rose Avenue that pupils with physical disabilities no longer need general additional support because they can be accommodated within the mainstream school. Under proposals out for consultation such pupils will still receive individual support, such as occupational therapy, and those with hearing impairments will still receive additional help.
Community pride – This group of public spirited residents, above, gathered outside the Red Lion in Penn to conduct the annual autumn village clean-up one Saturday morning last month. They collected several bags of litter from roadsides and hedgerows.
Hotel progresses – The second stage of the £94m scheme to convert Penn School into a luxury hotel complex begins this month following the completion of the demolition of 1960s buildings on the site. The construction group Walter Lilly, who won an award for construction excellence from the South East Centre for the Built Environment earlier this year, has been appointed as the principal contractor.
Allergy alert – Curzon School in Penn Street has banned nuts, sesame seeds and kiwi fruit from its premises because some of its pupils have severe allergies to them.
New flagpole – Chepping Wycombe Parish Council and the residents’ society have clubbed together to buy a new flagpole for Penn and Tylers Green which will be erected on the common on suitable occasions such as Remembrance Day and Carols on the Common. It cost £731
Good practice – James Perrin, from The Simpson Centre & Penn Surgery, won the (GP) Practice Manager of the Year award at the profession’s annual awards ceremony last month.
Top marks – Tylers Green Middle School has been praised for coming in the top five per cent in the country for school attendance. Figures from the Department for Education show it has an attendance record of nearly 98 per cent.
Orchard infilling – Buckinghamshire Council has approved plans to build half a dozen houses in the grounds of Orchard House, Amersham Road, Hazlemere.
Nature’s display – It has been a glorious year for autumn colour – this photograph is one of many reproduced by the Chilterns Weather Alerts Facebook site which gives a useful twice daily guide to local weather.
Christmas is coming…
(This story will be updated throughout November)
- The village scouts group will be delivering Christmas cards to homes in Penn, Tylers Green and the Manor Farm estate, Hazlemere in return for a donation to their charity. Details will be on their post boxes in local shops and the village hall.
- Carols on the Common around the Christmas tree on Tylers Green front common is on Thursday, 18 December from 7.45 pm
- There’s a Christmas Tree festival in Holy Trinity Church, Penn on 6 and 7 December concluding with a “Christmas jumper service” at 4pm on the 7th.
- Manor Farm Schools Christmas Fair is on 22 November from 11am, while Tylers Green Middle School’s is on 5 December.
- Cinderella will be performed by a travelling pantomime group in Tylers Green Village Hall on Friday 20 December from 3pm.
- The Wizard of Oz by Hazlemere Players is at Hazlemere Community Centre on 23, 24, 30 and 31 January
- See the local church websites for details of their Christmas services.
- Dog walkers and their dogs will be meeting for a chat and a drink on Tylers Green back common, mid-morning on Christmas Day.
Photographers: plan early for next year’s village show
THE organisers of next year’s Penn and Tylers Green Village Show, set for 20 June, are urging competitors for their increasingly popular photographic classes to think ahead.
One category next year will be “Sky at Night” and with some crisp winter nights ahead it could provide snappers with some good subject matter. More details on that, and other classes, on their website www.pennandtylersgreenvillageshow.com
Remembrance Day 1945 – Penn vicar urges families to give returning soldiers time to recover
EIGHTY years ago the first Remembrance Day after the end of the Second World War was filled with raw emotion.
Men and women who had fought in the war were still returning to the village and for many the homecoming was still several months away.
The Vicar of Penn, Oscar Muspratt, who had served as an army padre, told families to be patient with their loved ones when they returned home.
Those returning, especially if they had spent many years abroad, would find a return to normality “a deep and exhausting emotional experience,” he said.
“Battle casualties often had to be allowed to talk themselves out of their ghastly experiences before they could even start to recover,” he told meetings and congregations in the village. “In one sense those coming home need the same treatment. They must talk out what they wanted to so they can get their heads clear of it.”
On Remembrance Day in the village members of the British Legion and the Girl Guides, accompanied by the British Legion band, formed a solemn procession from the School Road shops to St Margaret’s Church for a service.
The sledgehammer. The nut. And Buckinghamshire Council’s disdain of public opinion
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Council said last month that if people want to discover what other members of the public have said about a planning application they will have to make a formal Freedom of Information request.
The council’s hardening stance over censorship comes after another council in Yorkshire which took the same decision as Buckinghamshire not to publish public comments on planning applications changed its mind and reversed its decision after a public outcry.
Wakefield Council leader Denise Jeffrey told the local press: “What we need to be doing in planning is to be transparent; make sure people see what’s going on and have a feel for what’s going on. People have made representations and transparency is everything.”
Compare that to a letter a reader of this blog received from Steve Bambrick, boss of Buckinghamshire Council’s planning department, which said: “Whilst I understand the desire to continue to see what others have commented on specific applications, in law, it is only the decision maker(s) that are required to see the comments.”
The council says it needs to block public viewing of people’s planning views to ensure it complies with what’s called General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), a set of nationally agreed rules governing privacy.
However, when asked by local MP Emma Reynolds, the council said it couldn’t afford to employ people to oversee data protection laws (see September blog).
Now the council says that if anyone wants to see public views after a planning decision has been made they will need to submit a Freedom of Information request.
So would that mean that if such a request were granted (and its difficult to see how it could be refused) someone at the council would need to view the letters before they were released to ensure they abide by GDPR rules, thereby undermining their own argument somewhat?
Despite repeated requests the council has yet to come up with an answer to that one.
*The Information Commissioner’s Office, which says it is so inundated with complaints about data protection laws it can no longer deal with them effectively, last month launched a public consultation to find a better way to handle them.
Changing the face of Wycombe town centre
BIG developments in the centre of High Wycombe are in the pipeline.
Plans have been finalised for a six storey block on Wycombe Hospital’s site which will house eight intensive care beds, six operating theatres, a cardiac and stroke emergency unit, an endoscopy department and cardiac wards. The block will be to the right of the current main hospital on the car park behind the urgent treatment centre.
It will also contain 80 bedrooms for patients, 17 bays for emergency diagnostics and 13 cubicles for endoscopy procedures. It will, says Buckinghamshire NHS Trust, provide faster diagnosis and improved admission and recovery facilities for patients.
And it will also, it says, take the pressure off emergency services and meet demand in the area for at least the next ten years.
It’s part of a long term plan to empty the crumbling 1960s hospital tower block and eventually demolish it. The trust is hoping to get planning permission early in the new year and begin building next year.
Meanwhile, Buckinghamshire College – which has over 7,000 students learning trades ranging from construction to plumbing; from art and design to business and law – will begin work next year on a large complex in the centre of Wycombe, pictured below, at the junction of Oxford Road and Bridge Street, near the bus station.
The college is paying for the state of the art building by closing and selling its current sites at Flackwell Heath and Amersham for housing development, leaving it with its new Wycombe site and its current one in Aylesbury.
Elsewhere, Buckinghamshire Council is selling the site of the former Wycombe District Council offices in Queen Victoria Road, pictured above, for it to be developed for housing and businesses. It says it will keep the familiar 1930s frontage but a number of councillors in the town are unhappy the whole original building is not to be retained.
Regional news
Burger off – Tony Palumbo, who has run his mobile bacon butty/tea bar from a lay-by on the A40/M40 link road for 27 years, has been told to relocate after Buckinghamshire Council suddenly discovered it was a “prohibited street” for trading. So far over 500 people, mainly lorry drivers, have signed a petition to keep him there. Tony, 60, told the Bucks Free Press there is nowhere else for him to go.
Peasants revolt – Residents in Prince Andrew Road and adjoining Prince Andrew Close in Maidenhead who want to change the name of their street have been told by their council that everyone living in the roads will need to agree before procedures to change the name can begin.
Sexless football – The Berkshire and Buckinghamshire Football Association has issued a language guide to all its officials, players and supporters advising them not to use gender- based words like “linesman” and “guys”.
Fighting back – A Government funded neighbourhood board is to be launched in Slough with the power to block gambling and vape shops, seize boarded-up shops and revitalise dying pubs as part of a regeneration of the town’s high street.
Closure delayed – The closure of RAF Halton has been put back at least three years to 2030 after the Ministry of Defence said further work was needed at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire which is due to take on Halton’s training of new RAF personnel.
Zoo favourite – Koko, Whipsnade Zoo’s oldest chimpanzee, pictured above, has died aged 52. Keepers decided to put her down as she was suffering terribly from arthritis in her hands and right leg and arm.
Racing ban – Police issued a special dispersal order to prevent a planned pony and trap race taking place in Chalfont St Peter last month, saying the event would have caused significant disruption and put road users at risk. Penn MP Sarah Green (Lib Dem, Amersham and Chesham) has asked the Government to regulate such events, known as sulky racing (see last blog).
Attractions saved – The Mill at Sonning, Britain’s only dinner-theatre, has been saved from possible closure after a successful campaign to raise £125,000 to complete essential maintenance work. The 14th century Dog and Badger pub in Medmenham, whose future was feared after it closed some months ago, has been bought by a company who will adapt it into an Italian restaurant and bar.
Movie suspense – The Government has delayed its decision on whether to give Marlow Film Studios the go-ahead (see last month’s blog) saying it needs more time to consider the issue. The decision is now due at the end of this month.
Care home backstop – Councillors have agreed a secret report on what action they will take if commercial organisations running council care homes in Hazlemere, Amersham and Chesham fail. In neighbouring Hillingdon last month the local council bought a care home owned by a private company saying it was cheaper to run the home themselves than to pay for private provision.
No strings attached – An exhibition to mark 60 years since the TV puppet show Thunderbirds was launched is being held at Slough Museum. The show was made in a make-shift studio in Slough Trading Estate and became an international hit. The exhibition is on Fridays and Saturdays until Christmas.
By the way…
- Dame Mary Berry, one of Penn’s most famous residents from the past, met Gabby Logan, one of Penn’s most famous residents from the present in a TV series to commemorate Mary’s 90th year. Next year Mary will have more cause to break open the bubbly when she and husband Paul celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary.
- Congratulations to Jonny Yaxley who was named Gravedigger of the Year in last month’s Good Funeral Awards. He won because of the time he takes to get to know people who come to mourn. He told the Henley Standard: “I like to say I put people to bed for the last time and it’s an honour.”
- Wes Streeting, the East End boy who rose to the Cabinet as Health Secretary, surprised his up-market audience at the Cliveden Literary Festival last month when he told them his family had links with the grand country mansion…his granny shared a prison cell with Christine Keeler, the good-time girl at the centre of the 1960s scandal involving the rich and powerful ‘Cliveden set.’
You can contact this blog at peter@pennandtylersgreen.com. It will be updated as necessary during November but the next full update will be on 1 December.