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Mill Lane Riverside
When St Regis first announced their intention to sell off the Taplow Paper Mill site, with its 48 acres of land, local residents reacted with a mixture of relief (at last, no more recycling lorries and something will be done about Skindles) and foreboding (hideous over-development with all that that may bring). As details of the possible future of the site are gradually revealed, one aspect that is of particular interest to our society has emerged. The latest plans released by Watchword, the new owners, include ideas for creating new inlets with moorings, to be fronted by exclusive riverside homes; which means that our right, as the public, to moor boats and to access the riverside could be curtailed, or even lost. The slipway just north of the bridge is particularly vulnerable. This is a public drawdock, sited where travellers on the old London–Bath road once crossed the river, before the first Maidenhead bridge was built. The slipway was used as a watering place for horses and cattle, as well as a launching and landing place for commercial river traffic and pleasure boats. Nowadays it provides a rare and valuable point of access to the river for heavy machinery, such as cranes. The approach road to the slipway, which is clearly visible on the map of the Taplow Enclosures of 1787, existed until just a few years ago. Sadly, the piece of land occupied by this road – which belonged to South Bucks – appears to have been subsumed into private ownership (it is now under the Windrush VW garage’s car park) and there have been occasions when it seemed that the same fate might befall the drawdock. Avid readers of this newsletter will recall previous articles highlighting the vulnerability of the slipway. In the spring of 2000, our front page showed Tissot’s painting of a Victorian lady stepping up it, no doubt returning from a boat trip. The article accompanying it ends with these words: ‘The slipway is at some risk from any proposed Skindles development and yet another public access point can be lost unless we are highly vigilant. (This was long before St Regis sold out, remember.) In the same issue, Fred Russell wrote a passionate article drawing attention to ‘the Windrush affair’ that I mentioned above. Subsequent events proved that these concerns were justified. In 2002, the Environment Agency were forced to protest against the chainlink fencing and padlocked gates that were put up, obstructing the right of free public access down the slipway. In that same year, they had to take up the public’s case against the possible sale of moorings just south of Maidenhead Bridge. No wonder, then, that we await the publication of Watchword’s planning application with such trepidation. It’s not all doom and gloom, however. The good news is that local groups are marshalling their forces to ensure that any redevelopment of the St Regis site will be have something to offer the whole community, not just the developers. Over the last year or so, a ‘mutual interest group’ has been meeting to share their aspirations for the site. Bob Dulson, of the Maidenhead Civic Society, summed up their aims as ‘trying to influence the planners and the new owners on this unique opportunity to regenerate the area, and through appropriate redevelopment, to realise its true potential to the benefit of all’. In addition, representatives from the parish council, the River Thames Society, Mill Lane residents and our own society, as well as the Civic Society, have been holding meetings with a ‘community liaison group’ set up by Hunter Page, the agents for the new owners of the site. The local groups are anxious that the development should recognise the site’s Green Belt status and ensure that it is in keeping with the immediate environment and the nearby conservation areas. They have drawn attention to the need to retain period buildings of architectural merit and to find a solution to potentially dangerous and unwelcome traffic in Mill Lane. Notably, they have placed particularly strong emphasis on the particular requirements of this as a riverside site. After a meeting earlier this year, Bob Dulson wrote to Jamie Lewis of Hunter Page, itemising their priorities, which included:- Enhancing public access and views to both Jubilee and Maidenhead Rivers
- Exercising caution over private riverbank ownership
- Emphasising leisure and recreational uses of the area
- Insisting that riverside business should be river-related
- Preserving and enhancing mooring and boatyard facilities.