FENCRETE RE-DEVELOPMENT

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The plans were reviewed at the 12th July PC Meeting and an objection letter is being framed. Beacon Villages Society have notified the Council of their letter of objection.

BWB/H2O have now submitted their revised planning applications under reference nos. 10/01336/APP and 10/01344/ACD. These should be visible on the AVDC website www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk. The plans have been received by the Parish Clerk and will be discussed at the Parish Council Meeting on monday July 12th at 8pm.

Press Release – Marsworth For publication in the Bucks Herald on Wednesday 30 June

Improved Plans for Marsworth Yard

British Waterways has submitted revised plans for Marsworth Yard following the withdrawal of a previous application for the demolition of all buildings on the site to be replaced with 14 new homes. The new planning application has been comprehensively revised in order to respond positively to the concerns that were raised about the previous application. It proposes 13 residential units and improves on the previous submission by:
· Retaining and refurbishing the historic carpenter’s workshop and converting it to residential use
· Refurbishing the operational crane and retaining it in its current position.
· Reducing the number of units from 14 new houses to 12 plus the conversion of the workshop.
· Reducing the proposed floorspace by over 13% (a reduction of over 15% compared to existing structures on the site).
· Retaining and upgrading the existing boater’s facilities, including the provision of new pump out facilities.
· Creating a sense of openness along the main canal frontage and retaining the wharf facilities.

The revised scheme has been submitted following discussions with English Heritage and officers at Aylesbury Vale District Council. British Waterways has also engaged with Marsworth Parish Council and held two exhibitions in April to enable the local community to view and comment on the emerging proposals.

Aiden Johnson-Hugill, British Waterways Development Manager, said: “The amended proposals respond positively to the concerns that were raised with our previous application. The revised scheme will regenerate an existing, unsightly brownfield site with a high quality development that would enhance the character and appearance of the Marsworth Conservation Area. The redevelopment of the site would also generate much needed revenue for British Waterways to reinvest in the canal network”.

As expected a revised Planning Application has now been submitted. We are not yet aware of its content but will report after the next Parish Council Meeting

Corry Cashman has informed us that it is very likely BWB/H2O will submit a fresh planning application in the period 15th June to 15th July. It is not known to what extent, if any, this may differ from the proposals at their recent 'consultations'.

The Parish Council meeting on May 10 was attended by a deputation from British Waterways to discuss the outcome of the recent public consultation in the village about the revised proposal for 13 homes with 34 car parking spaces at Marsworth Yard.
The Parish Council were pleased that the carpenters' workshop has been retained in the revised plans, but were particularly unhappy about the number of homes still in the plan, and the proposed zinc roofs.
The British Waterways team responded that fewer larger houses would be "difficult to market" and that they would be "progressing with the existing approach."
The timber cladding of western red cedar has now been changed to the more "indigenous" black stained larch, which would "provide a stronger contrast with the white brick", especially with the split between the floors. BW felt that zinc roofs would look better now with the black stained larch and that zinc gave a light feeling to the buildings, made the homes more marketable and was not a cheap option.
However, Parish Council Chairman Bob Kennedy expressed a strong opinion in favour of slate as a roofing material, backed by other members and asked why zinc roofs should be "foisted on us", especially if they were not cheaper.
The discussion then moved to traffic and the fact that Church Lane is the route to the recreation ground. There was concern that the people living on the development would treat the lanes as suburban roads and would be using the lanes when pedestrians would also want to use them.
The last survey had been biased in British Waterways' favour, the Parish Council felt and Evan Kempster referred to the fact that an application for a marina off Watery Lane was rejected on the grounds that '20 vehicles/week would be too many'.
The BW team said that the departure of British Waterways from the site would reduce heavy traffic, but the Parish Council did not feel this was significant.
The Parish Council stated they were in favour of development, but reiterated that fewer, larger houses would be more acceptable. The BW team said they did not think planners would accept such a scheme, so it was felt that the meeting with BW had ended in something of an impasse.

GKA/BWB arranged a public meeting in the Village Hall on the afternoon of saturday April 17th,  repeated in the White Lion on tuesday 20th. The next 2 pages summarise the revised proposed scheme and the 3rd page is a comments sheet for interested parties to make comments either by post or e-mail.

On Thursday March 11th GKA met with Parish Council representatives and outlined their next scheme for consultation. Key aspects of that scheme were:

No retention of any BWB presence on the site, all residential new development.

The old stone building would be retained after conversion, as would the crane, but zinc roofs are still preferred by the architect..

Smaller amount of built area but still 14 dwellings and associated parking spaces.

Canal user disposal facilities retained and linked to mains drainage.

The PC advised their strong preference for 4-6 larger dwellings which would generate less traffic, but still be financially attractive for BWB - they will re-evaluate.

No-one from Marsworth liked zinc roofs

BWB have now appointed GKA of Aylesbury to formulate their revised planning application and consultations are to take place during March 2010 with the Parish Council, and subsequently the public in an open meeting in late March - date to be advised.

A number of residents have got together to form the “Marsworth Junction Interest Group”, with the objective of entering into discussions with British Waterways and/or their developers regarding the development of the Marsworth Yard / Fencrete site. Their next meeting will be at Horseshoe Cottage on Church Lane, in the evening of March 17th. Everyone is invited, please contact John White, Bob Knight, Sandra Costello or Richard Booth for further information.

The former Fencrete and BWB site by Watery Lane at the junction of the Aylesbury Arm and Grand Union Canal was the subject of a Planning Application by H2O, agents of BWB. The proposed scheme, which lies within the Village’s Conservation Area, constituted 14 dwellings with 40 car park spaces for scheme residents, and involved the re-routing of a footpath. It also removed the existing water supply and sewage disposal facility for canal users.  Full details of the application can be seen on AVDC’s planning website

http://eplanning.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/applications/planning_details.htm

09/01945/APP is the planning application reference. Click on the Related Documents tab to see detailed plans and drawings.  The scheme was discussed at the Parish Council’s next meeting on Monday December 14^th and the Parish Council sent in an objecting response taking into account the views of the majority of villagers. There were over 130 other objections from individuals, canal users and local groups. Following AVDC's advice to BWB that their application would be refused BWB withdrew it and will re-submit after further consultation with local parties.