Core Policy 15 of the South Bucks District Council specifies Mill Lane as an 'opportunity site...in need of sensitive, comprehensive regeneration'. The site is defined as a 'major developed site in the Green Belt' and as such must be developed in conformity with National Green Belt Policy PPG2 Annex C.
Integral to the policy is the requirement that 'A development brief must be produced by the landowners/developers in conjunction with the Council and it must be adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document, prior to a
planning application being submitted'.
The development brief must be prepared for the whole site including the Paper Mill and Severn sites, the Skindles Hotel site, the National Grid site(the Gasometer and associated areas)and Taplow Investments site.
Policy 15 defines the constraints and parameters for a 'comprehensive, conservation-led approach which must
be taken to the regeneration of the site' and it lists 14 factors which 'any redevelopment proposal' should include. The Society was consulted during the preparation of the Core Strategy and helped to develop this policy and is in agreement with it.
The owners of the Mill Lane site, Watchword, are in administration and the administrator has made an agreement with Barratt Homes for it to work with the South Bucks District Council to prepare a development brief and to submit a planning application in due course. Subject to planning approval, Barratt Homes would then exercise its option to buy and to develop specific areas of the site.
When the draft development brief is completed there will be a period of public consultation, including a public exhibition, planned to be held on 12th May, to explain it. Following this and including any changes made as a result of the consultation, the development brief will be ready, for consideration and adoption by South Bucks District Council as a Supplementary Planning Document and it will become part of the South Bucks Local Development Framework documentation. Any planning application must confirm to it.
At the request of Frank Browne, consultant with Curtin and Co., acting on behalf of Barratt Homes, our Society's chairman and secretary attended an informal meeting to hear the Barratt Homes proposal for developing the Mill Lane site.
For the Society to speak with one voice on behalf of its members, it was agreed at this meeting that the Society Management Committee would distil a statement of key issues from the SBDC Core Strategy, the SBDC comprehensive report refusing the Watchword planning application, the Statutory Consultees, Community Associations, and individual objections to that application, and the opinions of Society members.
Below is the statement of the key issues to be addressed in any proposal to develop the Mill Lane site that was approved for submission to Society members at the meeting of the Committee on 28th March.
The site is an especially important and precious part of the Green Belt. It is a particularly effective 'buffer' preventing the merging of the Maidenhead and Slough conurbations. It affords and enhances views from and in all directions. It is a vital 'fresh air lung'.
There should be no new-build other than on previously developed aresa. The new-build area should be no larger
than the footprint of the existing buildings. The height of the new builds should be no higher than the height of the existing buildings. No trees should be felled.
The site is set in a Conservation Area. The regulations and guidance rules for development within and adjacent to Conservation Areas should be observed.
Skindles, in its close proximity to Maidenhead Bridge and its long history, has special importance in this Conservation Area. Preserving its envelope, its size and its height should be integral to any proposal to replace it.
The unique river environment bordering the site is too precious to lose. A comprehensive consultation with environment and wildlife organisations should be carried out to ensure the preservation of Taplow Reaches.
A riverside walk from Maidenhead Bridge via a bridge to Boulters Lock Island should be integral to an overall development proposal. The footpath under Maidenhead Bridge and the slipway next to Skindles should be improved.
Access to the site from the Bath Road and Berry Hill is critical. A credible survey of the current volumes and times of traffic movements on these roads and on Mill Lane should be the determining factor in establishing the number of households, hotel rooms, restaurant tables, conference facilities and employment positions to be provided by an overall development proposal.
SBDC has now adopted its Core Strategy, as approved by the Inspectorate and incorporating the key points made by the Hitcham and Taplow Society and the Ellington Road Residents Association.
'Policy 15: Mill Lane (Opportunity Site)' details the requirements which must be met by any planning application. In particular it states that new-build heights and footprints should be no larger than existing builds. Most especially it assesses the site to have 'potential for around 100' dwellings.
These conditions are critical to preventing detrimental impact on this important area of the Green Belt.
Karl Lawrence
