The new Elizabeth Hall continues to take shape and rather dwarfs its much loved elder sister. As a result of wet weather the project is some seven weeks behind schedule but it is within the financial budget. The move from the old hall to the new is currently scheduled for the week of 21st April and demolition of the current hall for around 27th April. The Annual Village Meeting will now take place in the Community Centre in Ravenscroft as will the District Council Election on Thursday 1st May. Landscaping and surfacing of the car park after demolition of the old hall will mean that there is unlikely to be any parking available at the Elizabeth Hall during much of April. Alternative parking should be available in the pay and display car park at The Raven.
The Annual Village Meeting will be held from 8pm on Thursday 24th April at the Community Centre this year only, not the Elizabeth Hall as is normal. The evening will start with an opportunity to walk round displays provided by the many community organisations with which we work. The Meeting itself will begin around 8.40 and will concentrate on your questions: there will be no speeches. Questions should be sent in advance, please, so we can be sure to cover the issues of greatest concern and arrange for the appropriate person to respond. Please email questions to or post or deliver them to the Parish Council office: address below.
The wildlife area at the junction of Carleton Close and Newnham Road has been named Coal House Corner for historic reasons. Bird nesting boxes are being installed to cater for the post Valentines Day bird activity!
Road Works have, unfortunately, been everywhere for much of the last few weeks. TheStation Road resurfacing was carried out on Sundays from 11th November until 2nd December as planned. At Holt Park Great Marlow was surfaced by a different contractor around the same time. In both cases the work was regarded as unsatisfactory and has had to be redone. Southern Water had co-operated with Hampshire Highways in kindly delaying their work on the A30 until the New Year when Station Rd was due to have finished. Unfortunately remedial works were necessary on Station Road and it was not possible to postpone the SE Water works further. Budget issues cause a problem for many authorities towards the end of the financial year in March because they cannot carry over the funds involved to the following year. Additionally on the 1st May a new contractor will replace the current highways maintenance contractor and thus there is even less scope to reschedule works over the intervening period.
Although we publish news of forthcoming events in Focus, the magazine only comes out once a month so in the past we have not been able to advise people of information at short notice. We are now setting up a facility so that we can email residents with information on items that cannot wait until the next issue of Focus. Topics might include information on open mornings for Planning Applications, flooding and road works. We would use the facility sparingly and it would be possible to unsubscribe. Email addresses would not be shared. For more information and to sign up please go to the mailing list page.
A planning application has been made by BMW to build a new dealership on land between Griffin Way South and Osborne Way. The site concerned has been vacant for many years and we are supporting the application which would make good use of this empty brownfield site. There would be an access to the car sales and workshop direct from Griffin Way South.
There is no further news on the possible McCarthy and Stone project to develop housing for the elderly in Sheldons Road.
The possible application for housing off Owens Farm lane by Sentinel Housing has still not been made. In the meantime we commissioned advice from Planning Consultants who broadly share our view, namely that the site concerned is far too large to be regarded as a “Rural Exception Site” as well as being outside the scope of the approved local plan. They also agree that the site is quite unsuitable for a development to house the elderly.
Antony Hunter – Parish Councillor