Background
The Silver Street site is owned by the Church Commissioners (CC). They have submitted a planning application to Huntingdon District Council (HDC) for 290 houses (originally 340).
Both the Lucks Lane and Silver Street developments are included in HDC’s Local Plan. (The Plan includes 270 not 290 houses for Silver Street.) The Mill Road site is not in the Local Plan. This means that HDC approve of the Silver Street development in principle and it is part of their overall plan to deliver the number of houses demanded by central government. The development must still meet planning regulations and gain formal approval.
Why have we objected?
Buckden Parish Council (BPC) have consistently objected to both the Silver Street and Mill Road developments. Our objections to Silver Street have been based upon the following:
- The volume of traffic generated by the development, on top of that created by Lucks lane, is huge and the roads in the village simply cannot cope. CC employ a firm of traffic consultants Pell Frischmann(PF). Their original report in 2018 suggested that there could be a queue of 300+ cars in the High Street in the morning rush hour.
- The type of houses being proposed. Our research shows that Buckden needs more high-quality housing suitable for older individuals and more affordable housing for the young, not the profile of housing proposed for the site.
- Buckden School and GP surgery do not have the capacity to cope with the additional numbers. Both sites are difficult and expensive to expand.
- Site access is dangerous and Silver Street itself cannot cope with the volume of traffic.
- Construction Traffic would be going through the conservation area for years. The road infrastructure cannot cope.
The main issue that we have been discussing with Highways England for some time is the traffic impact on the village. This has so far delayed the development for nearly 2 years. The PF proposals are to make changes to the roundabout including putting traffic lights on the A1, north and south bound. They believe this would enable cars to exit the village and Perry Road more easily. So far neither Highways England not the County Council have approved these proposals. There are outstanding concerns about safety and whether the proposals reduce congestion in the village. The enlarged petrol station has not yet been factored in. (A diagram of the proposals is attached.)
Next Steps
You are being asked to comment on a revised PF report on traffic, a revised site plan and a revised biodiversity report. BPC continue to have major concerns about the roundabout and believe the only safe solution is a bypass. We are currently reviewing the documents. The traffic report is highly technical, and we will be using some local experts to help.
If the ‘traffic problem is resolved’ it is highly likely that this development will go ahead. We have little confidence the other issues will be resolved satisfactorily. We will publish our review on the web site and comment on Facebook ahead of the 21st December deadline. You can use this information in your response to HDC.