New Development - 500 houses near Stoke Mandeville
Analysis of a new Environmental Impact Assessment Screening Opinion (24/02549/SO) for 500 houses near Stoke Mandeville.
Planning Application
A new planning application for an Environmental Impact Assessment Screening Opinion was submitted to Buckinghamshire Council on 23 August 2024. The planning application reference is 24/02549/SO. All documents are available on the Buckinghamshire Council planning portal.
The application is Environmental Impact Assessment Screening which is an early stage in the planning process for large planning applications. More information about the process can be found here (Buckinghamshire Council)
Location Plan
The location plan can be seen below. I have annotated the plan to make it easier to locate there the plot is.
The Site is bounded by the Edge of Stoke Mandeville to the North, The Risborough Road to the West, the Wendover Road to the East, and the Chiltern View garden centre to the south. The site is bisected by the Chiltern railway line.
Master Plan
The master plan is shown below. The image was taken from the drawing submitted as part of the planning application.
The master plan scheme shows the following elements
Two blocks of housing on either side of the railway line
A new local centre with shops close to the Risborough road
A strip of parkland between the fields and the new houses
On the Stoke Mandeville side, the new local centre forms an entrance into the development. Houses are clustered in a looped main road. A foot bridge allows residents to walk between the two halves of the development over the railway line.
On the Wendover road side, a single main road from the Weston Turville roundabout on the Wendover road roundabout provides access to the houses.
Access Roads
I attempted to create a better illustration of the road network with a free-hand overlay.
There are two access ways into the development. Entrance A from the Stoke Mandeville side is a new road to the South of the Wool Pack pub. Entrance B is a new junction on the Weston Turville roundabout on the Wendover road.
Entrance B looks appropriate because the existing roundabout will manage the extra traffic flow. Entrance A looks inadequate for the size of the development. A junction with lights or a roundabout may be required in the final plan.
Aylesbury Garden Town Rating
It is too early to provide a firm judgement but on the initial master plan, I give this development 4 out of 5.
These are the things that I liked
The parkland should create a green barrier against further urban sprawl, hopefully preventing Stoke Mandeville from continuing the expand south towards the Wendover bypass
500 houses is a good level of density but not overwhelming
The new local centre in Stoke Mandeville will provide services to a car centric area
Proximity to the train station will reduce the reliance on cars
These are the things that I did not like
The access road from the Risborough road is potentially a traffic bottle-neck. I would be concerned about the safety of a minor-road junction on an already busy road
More detail will need to be included in the full planning application on provision of health and education services
The development needs a design code that reflects the existing patterns in Stoke Mandeville. A big development of bright-red brick buildings with zero variation would be unwelcome
"A big development of bright-red brick buildings with zero variation would be unwelcome" - this will be the kicker - we have to hope the developer has some aspiration and imagination over the top of their profit goals. Very unsure how to challenge them on this - obvs the detailed plans will help us out when they appear - assuming they do.
"The parkland should create a green barrier against further urban sprawl, hopefully preventing Stoke Mandeville from continuing the expand south towards the Wendover bypass" - I agree this is a good thing however the devil will be in the delivery - from what I can see from the various new developments around the town developers are hit and miss when it comes to the quality of green spaces. I'm told by a major landscaping subcontractor that developers now have to 'do green space' but don't really know how, and tend to cut corners - for example putting clay over sand/cement rubble as a 'topsoil'.