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The Future of the Bishop Centre

Land Securities, the owners of the Bishop Centre, presented proposals for the redevelopment of the Centre at an exhibition on 8 and 9 July. Several articles and letters about the proposals have appeared in the Maidenhead Advertiser. The essence of the Land Securities' proposals is to demolish the existing 36 Bishop Centre shops and to build a 30,000-sq ft supermarket at the end of a long row of various sizes of shops, each with a mezzanine floor. Parking will be increased from 397 to 439 car spaces plus 96 cycle parking stands. Land Securities have planning permission in place for 95,000 square feet of retail space and for an additional access to the A4. These proposals indicate that it will be seeking an increase to 131,000 square feet.

The South Bucks District Council Core Strategy supports the redevelopment of the Bishop Centre in a 'form and scale' based on 'localised need' and it 'must maintain a scale and role which does not impact adversely on other centres'.

At its request, Land Securities met with representatives of the Hitcham and Taplow Society and the Ellington Road and District Residents Association on 5 September to discuss the proposals. Prior to the meeting an email was sent out to the members of the Society and the Association asking for answers to seven questions arising from the proposals. A printed copy of the email was delivered to members for whom an email address was not available.

These were the seven questions :

1 Is there a need for another supermarket in our locality? 2 Which goods/services provided by the existing Bishop Centre shops will you miss? 3 Is there a major shop you would like to have a branch in the Bishop Centre? 4 Which types of independent shop would you like to see in a new Bishop Centre? 5 How will the proposed shopping centre impact on the local community and businesses? 6 Are you concerned at the increase in traffic there will be on the A4 and local roads? 7 Do you agree with Land Securities that 'the local area deserves a better shopping experience'?

In addition, members were invited to add any specific objections to the proposals, suggestions for enhancing the proposals or general comments they wished to make. A copy of the Exhibition Boards detailing the proposals, a report of the meeting with Land Securities and an analysis of the 48 answers is available on our website www.taplowsociety.org.uk

STOP PRESS : Planning Application submitted to South Bucks District Council

Land Securities submitted a Planning Application for "the demolition of existing retail and commercial buildings and comprehensive redevelopment to erect new commercial units" of the Bishop Centre on 29 September. The Application comprises 50 documents containing several hundred pages of text, plans, maps and photographs. The subjects covered include assessments of the impact on local retailers, potential traffic volumes, noise generation, and environmental impact. The target date for a decision by the Council is 29 December. A copy of the Executive Summary of the documents is available on our website www.taplowsociety.org.uk All of the documents are available on the South Bucks District Council website www.southbucks.gov.uk by following the trail from 'Environment and Planning' to 'Viewing Planning Applications'.

Proposed Design