Neighbourhood Plan Newsletter – October 2016

SOULBURY ROAD UPDATE

The planning application for 85 new homes on land off Soulbury Road has been objected to by Stewkley Parish Council and will therefore go to Aylesbury Vale District Council’s planning committee for a final decision.
It is understood that no decision will be made on this application until near the end of November.

CONSULTANT MEETING

Members of the Stewkley neighbourhood plan team steering and working groups met with chartered town planner Paul Jobson, appointed as the village’s neighbourhood plan consultant, earlier this month.
Mr Jobson said he felt Stewkley was in a ‘good position’ to make a draft neighbourhood plan for the district council.
He also said that if the Soulbury Road development was rejected by the district council, a strong draft neighbourhood plan would be needed.
He also said that the work completed by each working group was progressing well.

A GATEWAY TO STEWKLEY?

As well as housing, the HELP group have also been looking at plans for gateways to all the entry points in the village.
The group’s other proposals include reducing the speed limits to 40mph on approaches to Stewkley and having ‘pause points’ around the village for example by the pubs and the churches.

HOUSING MEETING

A public meeting and exhibition on the subject of sites for future house building in Stewkley was held at St Michael’s School earlier this month.
There were exhibition boards around the room which showed proposed possible sites for building in order to meet Aylesbury Vale District Council’s housing demand imposed on the village.
The proposed sites were drawn up by members of the neighbourhood plan team after speaking to all landowners in the village and then assessing sites where development is considered possible against a set of criteria.
Following an explanation of the information boards there was a forum to allow members of the public to air their views.
Among the views expressed were that Stewkley could have looked into potential sites a few years earlier, that access to some sites could be a concern and that the school could struggle to cope with the extra influx that would come with additional homes being built.