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Death of an unique shopping village

The thirty shops and the car wash which comprised the long established popular Bishop Centre Shopping Village have now closed down. The buildings stand empty awaiting demolition.

Appearing to ignore the large number and the wide extent of objections, the Secretary of State for Communities has endorsed the decision of the South Bucks District Council Planning Committee, by a single vote, to approve the Planning Application by Land Securities to demolish the Bishop Centre and in its place to build a Texas style strip shopping mall comprising a giant two floor supermarket and twelve other large shops.

To no avail Local Councils and Organisations had appealed to local MPs Dominic Grieve and Teresa May to petition the Secretary of State to call in the Planning Application for an Inspector to hold a Public Enquiry.

The Council Planning Officers in a comprehensive 35 page analysis of the more than 1000 pages of documents submitted by the applicant and the more than 150 objections submitted by Local Authorities, Companies, Organisations and Residents, had recommended that the application be refused.

Objections had come from

Taplow Parish Council : Burnham Parish Council : Royal Borough Of Windsor and Maidenhead Council : Slough Borough Council
The Crown Estates : SEGRO - owners of Slough Trading Estate : Irish Life Assurance - owners of Nicholsons Centre : Montagu Evans - on behalf of the Kings Triangle development
Hitcham and Taplow Society : Burnham High Street Association : Maidenhead Civic Society : Burnham Fifty and Beyond Group
More than 100 residents of Taplow : Burnham : Dorney : Maidenhead

Objections had voiced concerns for the certainty of future traffic problems, the serious effect on nearby shopping areas, the loss of specialist shopping needs, the addition of yet another supermarket to the present more than adequate numbers, the loss of local employment, the stronge challenge to the relevance of the traffic and retail assessments submitted with the application, and the noise, lighting and traffic impact on local residents.

To address these concerns, the South Bucks District Council has set out a list of 49 conditions to be met by Land Securities. The list comprises 2 which must be met before any demolition is done, 11 which must be met before any other work starts, and 36 which must be met before the new shopping centre is allowed to open for business.

An important condition is that "prior to commencement and occupation of the development" Land Securities must make the payments of £865,000 it had offered if the Planning Application was approved.

Taplow Parish Council	£100,000
Burnham Parish Council	£240.000
Cycle Path	£185,000
Thames Valley Adventure Playground	£50,000
Hag Hill Rise Playground	£65,000
Road works	£50,000
Community Assistance Fund	£50,000
Public Art	£125,000

Karl Lawrence