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Student village will be too big and too high
RE: The granting of conditional permission by Wycombe District Council to the plans for a major student village on the former CompAir site in Hughenden Avenue, High Wycombe. Buckinghamshire New University aims to build 672 rooms, and there will be 33 parking spaces plus an onsite taxi rank.
I WAS very disappointed to read the article in the BFP two weeks ago which confirmed that conditional permission had been granted to BNU for student housing on the old CompAir site.
I was shocked by the statement from one councillor which claimed that the varied objections raised by local residents, councillors and business people who will be directly affected by this decision, had been addressed sufficiently.
I attended both the February and April 08 meetings on this application at the council offices and if one thing was clear, by the show of residents/opposers at the meetings, it's that these issues HAVE NOT been satisfactorily addressed.
I fully appreciate that there is a need for student accommodation... but this is for far too many.
As a result, the buildings will stand at six/seven storeys.
This is far too high!
Coming on to the other issue which is the parking, or should I say non-parking..... well, it beggars belief! The parking in surrounding areas is already at a premium.
We were advised by the BNU representative that we residents, should the unthinkable happen and a student/visitor park outside our properties, will need to provide evidence to the BNU who will then take up the issue.
How do you provide evidence? How do you know it is a student's car? How long will it take for any action to be taken? Why should it fall to the residents to police our neighbourhoods when this ridiculous situation has been foisted upon us?
Why not put in adequate parking?
Any noise related disturbance will be eradicated apparently by on-site staff... that's that sorted then!
All of these issues will have a very real negative impact on the surrounding communities and as such permission should not be granted as it stands at present.
The only people to whom this is an acceptable proposition are those who do not reside in this area.
Tracey Slade, Telford Way, Downley
9:42pm Thursday 8th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: SBJones, Wycombe on 10:56am Fri 9 May 08
you can be sure the students will be parking all over the place and outside your door, the parking issue has not been addressed and the council just dont seem to care about the impact on residents of this monstrosity thats probably because none of them live in the district!
you can be sure the students will be parking all over the place and outside your door, the parking issue has not been addressed and the council just dont seem to care about the impact on residents of this monstrosity thats probably because none of them live in the district!
Posted by: Pierre, HW on 11:14am Fri 9 May 08
Why should someone living in Downley have such an opinion -unless she doesn't know what suburb she lives in!
Why should someone living in Downley have such an opinion -unless she doesn't know what suburb she lives in!
Posted by: Elmo, High Wycombe on 11:37am Fri 9 May 08
Stick all in a big building together so I know where to find the little sihts next time my car gets vandalised.
Stick all in a big building together so I know where to find the little sihts next time my car gets vandalised.
Posted by: smokey, high wycombe on 4:36pm Fri 9 May 08
[quote][bold]Elmo[/bold] wrote:
Stick all in a big building together so I know where to find the little sihts next time my car gets vandalised.[/quote] elmo - how do you know its students doing this?
Elmo wrote:
Stick all in a big building together so I know where to find the little sihts next time my car gets vandalised.
elmo - how do you know its students doing this?
Posted by: SBJones, Wycombe on 11:18am Sat 10 May 08
[quote][bold]Pierre[/bold] wrote:
Why should someone living in Downley have such an opinion -unless she doesn't know what suburb she lives in![/quote] if she lives in the area why shouldnt she have an opinion? what a strange thing to say
Pierre wrote:
Why should someone living in Downley have such an opinion -unless she doesn't know what suburb she lives in!
if she lives in the area why shouldnt she have an opinion? what a strange thing to say
Posted by: Elmo, High Wycombe on 8:42pm Sun 11 May 08
[quote][bold]smokey[/bold] wrote:
[quote][bold]Elmo[/bold] wrote: Stick all in a big building together so I know where to find the little sihts next time my car gets vandalised.[/quote] elmo - how do you know its students doing this?[/quote] The traces of hair gell the cnuts leave behind.
smokey wrote:
Elmo wrote: Stick all in a big building together so I know where to find the little sihts next time my car gets vandalised.
elmo - how do you know its students doing this?
The traces of hair gell the cnuts leave behind.
Posted by: Resident, High Wycombe on 12:18pm Mon 12 May 08
Pierre
I hope my living no more than 500 yards from the site meets with your approval for "such an opinion" and for as long as I have lived there(14 years) it has been known as Downley!
Thanks anyway for your invaluable input to this debate!!
Pierre
I hope my living no more than 500 yards from the site meets with your approval for "such an opinion" and for as long as I have lived there(14 years) it has been known as Downley!
Thanks anyway for your invaluable input to this debate!!
Posted by: Lo_Wycombe, Bowerdean Rd on 4:55pm Mon 12 May 08
[quote]33 parking spaces plus an onsite taxi rank.[/quote]
Hang on, taxi ranks and parking? What happened to walking?
33 parking spaces plus an onsite taxi rank.
Hang on, taxi ranks and parking? What happened to walking?
Posted by: Resident, High Wycombe on 12:08am Tue 13 May 08
Let's apply some rationale to this issue. The proposal for student accommodation will not only affect the residents in the immediate area of the 'proposed' site but potentially the whole of Wycombe.
I would recommend that all interested parties review the Wycombe.gov Planning and Buildings website and see what comments and/or recommendations have been made by various authorities and, to date, remain unresolved and/or unanswered. The planning reference number being 07/07566/FUL.
Some examples are as follows:-
a) An email detailing concerns by Thames Valley Police dated 13/11/07 does not appear to have been responded to. This development, without the proper controls in place will attract criminality i.e. theft, vandalism etc.
Thames Valley Police comments related to the applicants Design and Access statement which should detail how crime prevention measures have been considered.Their observations were :- Access control- non mentioned.
No mention of about security for each students room - No security will give licence to thievery etc.
Transport Assessment - No mention of managing students and their possessions being dropped off or picked up at the beginning or end of term. This will result in roAds being blocked up, to the annoyance of others.
Defensible space to accommodation blocks - with a public footpath going through the middle of the site, how is it proposed that offenders will be prevented from accessing residential blocks?
b) In an email dated 7/11/07 Thames Water made the following statement ' Following initial investigation, Thames Water has identified an inability of the existing waste water infrastructure to accommodate the needs of this application'. 'The development may lead to sewage flooding'.
c)Memo from Head of Environmental Services for the attention of Mr Richard White dated 18/02/08, to summarise concludes :- There is a potential for contaminated land from the current/previous use on the site. A phased risk assessment and full site investigation will need to be carried out followed by remediation measures where appropriate.
Construction work shall not begin until a scheme for protecting the development from the proposed industrial units on an adjacent site has been submitted to and approved in writing etc.etc. - [bold]bold[/bold] WHAT ABOUT THE RESIDENTS OF THE SURROUNDING AREAS?[bold]bold[/bold]
d) Parking - enough said except for the fact that the council tax payers of High Wycombe will be expected to police the 'misdemeanours' of students and their relatives. Once we've reported breaches in the parking controls, will the matter be dealt with in a timeous manner? I think not.
e) CHP - Whats this all about? Whoever thought that a combined heat and power system could work on a development this size lives in cloud cuckoo land. Where are the results of a feasibility study? The individuals who suggested the scheme could possibly work are only paying lipservice to the concept and trying to score ecological green 'brownie' points.
Finally, as a resident of Telford Way I do not wish to look out of my front room window and see buildings in excess of 23 metres (74 ft) in front of my home. I much prefer the uninterrupted view, I currently enjoy, across the valley.
I also hope that once the buildings have been erected nobody says 'I wish I'd objected to the development when I had the chance'.
THE CHANCE STILL EXISTS AS LONG AS WE STAND FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE IS RIGHT AND NOT SUCCUMB TO THE IMPOSED DEMANDS OF THE COUNCIL AND UNIVERSITY.
Let's apply some rationale to this issue. The proposal for student accommodation will not only affect the residents in the immediate area of the 'proposed' site but potentially the whole of Wycombe.
I would recommend that all interested parties review the Wycombe.gov Planning and Buildings website and see what comments and/or recommendations have been made by various authorities and, to date, remain unresolved and/or unanswered. The planning reference number being 07/07566/FUL.
Some examples are as follows:-
a) An email detailing concerns by Thames Valley Police dated 13/11/07 does not appear to have been responded to. This development, without the proper controls in place will attract criminality i.e. theft, vandalism etc.
Thames Valley Police comments related to the applicants Design and Access statement which should detail how crime prevention measures have been considered.Their observations were :- Access control- non mentioned.
No mention of about security for each students room - No security will give licence to thievery etc.
Transport Assessment - No mention of managing students and their possessions being dropped off or picked up at the beginning or end of term. This will result in roAds being blocked up, to the annoyance of others.
Defensible space to accommodation blocks - with a public footpath going through the middle of the site, how is it proposed that offenders will be prevented from accessing residential blocks?
b) In an email dated 7/11/07 Thames Water made the following statement ' Following initial investigation, Thames Water has identified an inability of the existing waste water infrastructure to accommodate the needs of this application'. 'The development may lead to sewage flooding'.
c)Memo from Head of Environmental Services for the attention of Mr Richard White dated 18/02/08, to summarise concludes :- There is a potential for contaminated land from the current/previous use on the site. A phased risk assessment and full site investigation will need to be carried out followed by remediation measures where appropriate.
Construction work shall not begin until a scheme for protecting the development from the proposed industrial units on an adjacent site has been submitted to and approved in writing etc.etc. - WHAT ABOUT THE RESIDENTS OF THE SURROUNDING AREAS?
d) Parking - enough said except for the fact that the council tax payers of High Wycombe will be expected to police the 'misdemeanours' of students and their relatives. Once we've reported breaches in the parking controls, will the matter be dealt with in a timeous manner? I think not.
e) CHP - Whats this all about? Whoever thought that a combined heat and power system could work on a development this size lives in cloud cuckoo land. Where are the results of a feasibility study? The individuals who suggested the scheme could possibly work are only paying lipservice to the concept and trying to score ecological green 'brownie' points.
Finally, as a resident of Telford Way I do not wish to look out of my front room window and see buildings in excess of 23 metres (74 ft) in front of my home. I much prefer the uninterrupted view, I currently enjoy, across the valley.
I also hope that once the buildings have been erected nobody says 'I wish I'd objected to the development when I had the chance'.
THE CHANCE STILL EXISTS AS LONG AS WE STAND FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE IS RIGHT AND NOT SUCCUMB TO THE IMPOSED DEMANDS OF THE COUNCIL AND UNIVERSITY.
Posted by: SBJones, Wycombe on 12:25pm Tue 13 May 08
Resident, the ignorance of people around here amazes me they will probably just slag you off and call it NIMBYism, im sorry that you will have this monstrosity on your doorstep
Resident, the ignorance of people around here amazes me they will probably just slag you off and call it NIMBYism, im sorry that you will have this monstrosity on your doorstep
Posted by: Town Cryer, Wycombe on 6:54pm Fri 16 May 08
what the hell do we expect when its rural Tory councillors making thge decisions for Town residents.
Bring on a Towm Council that represents local residents
what the hell do we expect when its rural Tory councillors making thge decisions for Town residents.
Bring on a Towm Council that represents local residents
Posted by: john, marlow on 8:29pm Fri 16 May 08
it is blatantly obvious that a council capable of visiting the monstrous Eden Centre on the town is capable of anyform of architectural and environmental vandalism. this is yet another example.
it is blatantly obvious that a council capable of visiting the monstrous Eden Centre on the town is capable of anyform of architectural and environmental vandalism. this is yet another example.
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