Fight to Save Bassetsbury Allotments
Written by morty on February 26, 2007 – 5:12 pm -Your Liberal Democrat Focus team have been alarmed to discover that Bassetsbury Allotments have been earmarked for housing development.
The Wycombe District Council newsletter entitled “Imagine the Future (IF4)” shows housing earmarked for the allotments.
Trevor Snaith is asking the questions of our Conservative Councillors why this has suddenly appeared in the local plan and why they have failed to raise this major development with the residents of Bassetsbury, Bowden Lane and Dean Garden Rise.
Trevor says “There is no mention in the newsletter of the plans apart from a red area which according to the key is entitled “Housing”.
I am extremely concerned that our Conservative Councillors are trying to get this passed without anyone noticing.”
Trevor Snaith and Ray Farmer are determined to ensure that these plans are rejected and the allotments remain. Trevor is in discussion with The Bassetsbury Protection Group on what needs to be done to stop this development.
Residents can make their voice heard by completing the IF4 response form available from Council offices or via the Internet at www.wycombe.gov.uk/imaginethefuture
There is also a public event on Wed 28th February 7-9pm at John Hampden School. To attend this you need to contact Carol Courcha on 01494 421277 or email Carol_Courcha@wycombe.gov.uk
Tags: Blog Entries, Ryemead
Posted in Blog Entries | 5 Comments »
March 18th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
First of all may I thank you for drawing together the community and highlighting this clear failure of WDC to properly address the issue of community consultation on one of their major proposals in the recent round of proposals for the Wycombe District.
I live close to other allotments in the area and feel that the community relies on the Local Authority to protect us against the loss of such community benefits and find it quite unnerving that they are actually supporting the loss of publicly owned facilities.
It is always possible to overcome technical problems, which stand in the way of development. Arguments such as “lack of access”, “it’s a former lands fill site”, “the mains water supply is deficient”, “there is insufficient capacity for drainage provision for development” etc all add to the list of hurdles to knock down but they are in themselves not insurmountable.
However, having briefly reviewed a number of the documents o the Wycombe DC web site, including the Open Space Study by Scott Wilson and Appendix 5 of the “Draft Final Sustainability Appraisal of Site Allocations Preferred Options February 2007”, there are a number of fundamental points where common sense would lead you towards the protection of the existing stock of allotments in Wycombe and not consider them as available to trade with other uses.
The Open Space study refers to the 2001 census and appears to make no allowance for the significant additional development, which has taken place since and is taking place in close proximity to this part of Wycombe.
It referred to a “surplus” of allotments in the South East of Wycombe; this seems an odd statement as I understand that there is a current over subscription! The report might have been better written to say that there are more allotments in this part of Wycombe than others. This suggests a need for the other areas to be provided with more but does not suggest reducing the provision here.
Furthermore, development of the Water Works, Ercol, Bucks Free Press, will increase the demand for allotments and the Council should therefore consider that if they are able to provide further allotments elsewhere then they should not be at the expense of existing provision which by their own admission is presently oversubscribed.
I believe that our objection to the allocation for development of this and any allotment sites should also focus upon the community benefit provided by these publicly owned facilities. Such benefit is greatly enhanced by the recent move towards houses with smaller gardens and the increasing proportion of apartments being approved in Wycombe.
One also needs to consider why the council wishes to bring forward publicly owned sites for development whilst at the same time resisting the aspirations of the developer of the adjacent Water Works site to increase the number of new dwellings on that site. It might be argued that one could allow additional affordable homes for sale on the waterworks site and allow the Bassetsbury Allotments to be retained as a valuable public asset.
It is likely that in such circumstances the future occupiers of the additional dwellings would welcome the retention of the allotments
More specifically, the ecological associations of the Bassetsbury Allotments are enhanced by the adjacent Nature Reserve and the former railway line, which is now a valued recreation route and wildlife corridor.
No doubt the arguments tomorrow night will be heated and sometimes contain elements of self-interest which need to be seen in context to avoid the label of NIMBY. However, we should all recognise the fact that the planning process allows communities to object where the proposals can be shown to be wrong having balanced all the arguments for and against.
In conclusion, it is clear to me here that there are more reasons against the proposed change of use than there are benefits resulting from it.
Steve.
18/03/07
March 21st, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I whole heartedly to agree and confirm that I have logged my objections on the council’s Website today.
I really hope that our voices are heard and that the Council withdraws the proposed plan
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:33 pm
MAny thanks to the 80+ residents that turned up at the environment Centre to voice their concerns at the Councils plans to put housing on the Bassetsbury Allotments
Ray Farmer and i will be meeting many of you personally over the coming weeks leading up to the district council elections . I confirm our commitment to ensure the allotments remain.
When elected as your Lib Dem councillors in May we will reinforce this with the Conservative controlled council who are at fault for allowing our precious green spaces to be considered for development.
Rest assured — Bassetsbury Alotments we will fight to maintain — happy gardening
Trevor Snaith & Ray Farmer
March 23rd, 2007 at 3:51 pm
Hi, I just found out today in the Bucks Free Press that Bassetsbury Allotments are under threat and I’m appalled that it can even be contemplated – loss of established green space, a wildlife corridor with Funges Meadow and the old railway line site, not to mention the loss of a community facility at a time when as far as I am aware all allotments in Wycombe are currently oversubscribed.
What makes it even more galling is that as someone who lives locally (Spring Gardens Road), reads the local press and has an allotment at Back Lane (just a bit further down the road) I hadn’t even heard about the plans until now and I see it is too late to comment on the WDC IF4 document mentioned. Exactly where is the public consultation in this? I accept that it is difficult to balance the need for new housing against other objectives, and I do believe that existing brownfield land should be utilised wherever possible, but the key word here is _balance_ and that is being forgotten in the rush to drown Wycombe in car-dependency and flats without amenities.
Good luck and please keep me up to date with your efforts.
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Many thanks to the numerous telecalls and messages of support to protect Bassetsbury Allotments
Make sure you lodge your objections with the council by going to –
http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/imaginethefuture
Trevor Snaith