Author Archives: hvrawebmaster

A History of Uplands

Redrow Homes held an Exhibition in Hughenden Village Hall on 17 May to seek comments on their emerging proposal for the redevelopment of the Uplands site in Four Ashes Road.  Currently owned by DeVere Group, Redrow propose demolishing the existing historic building and conference facilities to make way for up to 16 executive homes.

Clearly no one was particularly enthusiastic about demolishing a significant building which over the years has devolved into a major training, conference and wedding facility, but at the time it was unclear of the historical nature of the building.  Since then Marian Miller from the High Wycombe Society has written a preliminary report on a voluntary basis on behalf of the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society (BAS) and the Historic Buildings & Landscapes Group of the Chiltern Society.  A copy of the report is attached here.

Preview of Proposals for Redevelopment of Uplands House.

Redrow Homes is undertaking consultation on their emerging proposals for the redevelopment of Uplands House in Four Ashes Road.

The site is currently owned and operated by De Vere Venues.  Redrow Homes has been in discussions with De Vere about the availability of the site and believes that the site is an ideal location for a small number of quality new homes.

In advance of the public consultation exhibition, Redrow homes are inviting residents to a preview of the event on Friday 17th May 2013 from 2.30pm – 3.30pm at Hughenden Valley Village Hall.

At the preview session you will be able to view the emerging proposals, leave your comments and also put questions to the project team.

The public exhibition at the Hughenden Valley Village Hall will be held from 4pm – 8pm on the same day.

National Audit Office says “HS2 rail benefits to economy are unclear”

The National Audit Office (NAO) has warned that the benefits of the HS2 high-speed rail project on the economy are unclear.

The NAO said in a report that it had “reservations” about how the London-to-Birmingham link would deliver growth, adding that the project had an estimated £3.3bn funding gap. However, Patrick McLoughlin the Transport Secretary  said the NAO’s conclusions were based on old data. Labour said the report was a “worrying wake-up call” for the government.

The NAO said it had “reservations about the business case” and said the timetable for the planning phase of the project – with work due to start in 2016-17 – was “challenging”.

The report, published on 16th May, said: “In particular, in presenting its case for investment in the project, the Department of Transport (DfT) has poorly articulated the strategic need for a transformation in rail capacity and how High Speed 2 will help generate regional economic growth.”

The department’s “methodology for appraising the project puts a high emphasis on journey-time savings, from faster and more reliable journeys, but the relationship between these savings and the strategic reasons for doing the project, such as rebalancing regional economies, is unclear”.

The full coverage of the news from the BBC can be read here

HVRA AGM Tuesday 21st May

The Annual General Meeting of the Hughenden Valley Residents Association will be held in the Hughenden Small Village Hall on Tuesday 21st May 2013 starting at 7.30pm. The formal business of the AGM will include an address from the Chairman, the approval of the Association’s accounts, and the election of the Association’s officers for the forthcoming year. There will then be a talk by Steve Kirkpatrick of the National Trust.
HVRA Agenda for 2013 AGM
AGM 2012 Minutes

HVRA Senior Citizens Event Saturday 18th May

From Rosemary Hewitt
PLEASE MAKE A NOTE IN YOUR DIARY to come along and join us at the Village Hall at 5.00pm on Saturday, 18th May when you will enjoy a wonderful buffet and entertainment – it’s all free!

Alkka Stevenson, a performing arts trained singer, will be entertaining us. She has a wide repertoire of songs and loves singing songs from all those wonderful musicals that we all love – so do come and join us. Let’s see if we can pack the hall again this year!

Alkka would love to sing some of your favourites, so if you have a special song or songs, or a favourite musical, or you like the songs of a certain singer, then please let me know as soon as possible and I will pass a list on to her well in advance of our Party.

Please respond to the Senior Citizen Party Invitation when it drops through your letter box in the coming weeks and let your Road Rep or me know if you wish to attend by completing the Invitation giving your name, address, phone number and whether or not you require transport.

I look forward to seeing you on the 18th May, and don’t forget to let me know your favourite songs on telephone number 562752.

Rosemary Hewitt
Event Co-ordinator
(Tel No: 562752)

Valley Wives Report – March

From Joan Steel
Margaret made the announcements this month and introduced Valerie Statterfield, our speaker who gave a very interesting talk entitled “Being a Headmistres – a way of life”. Valerie’s lifetime career in teaching started in 1966 and ended six years ago. After thirty years of teaching in a wide selection of schools in Britain and the USA while her own children were little, then eventually became Headmistress of Pipers Corner School. Valerie found this very fulfilling, as well as challenging and complex. A head has to be authoritative, democratic, supportive, have a good leadership style, and able to create a positive, all round learning environment where academic achievement is paramount but there must be development of the whole character. Every child is gifted and talented so schools must be inclusive, everyone should feel valued as individuals, and be given high expectations. A school should not be complacent Valerie found that being head if a boarding community as well as living in a bungalow on the premises, was very strenuous as she was never off duty. She was always responsible even for nursing, and had to have legal medicine training. Dealing with many childrens issues, was like having a large family! Administrative issues and paper work could be all consuming eg Governors meetings, parents associations, staff appointments (Valerie outlined the atributes that she looked for in a good teacher), child protection issues that needed agency co-operation, meetings with architects ,dealing with government and political intrusion etc. However Valerie always kept “grounded” by doing some teaching and getting to know the girls and for them to know her. She paid tribute to her outstanding staff. School assemblies were thought provoking and strengthened the co-operative life of the school promoting the enduring power of love. Valerie was warmly thanked for her very interesting and informative talk.

Our next meeting is on April 5th when Mary Gamester’s fabrics talk is on “How India Has Influenced my Work”. The interesting objects competition is for something beginning with the letter R.

Judge backs government in HS2 legal challenge

The government has declared a legal victory for the HS2 project after a High Court judge this morning rejected nine out of ten areas of challenge by objectors to the project.

However, Mr Justice Ouseley also ruled that the Department for Transport (DfT) acted unlawfully in the “unfair” way it consulted on the issue of compensation for residents living near the planned rail line.

High speed rail minister Simon Burns said afterwards that the government would consult again on the issue, but insisted that HS2 would not be delayed.

Four organisations had brought five judicial review challenges to overturn government permission for the first phase of the £32 billion project, from London to Birmingham.

The ten areas of challenge included claims that the DfT failed to adequately consider alternative routes and had not complied with various European Union environmental directives.

The claimants also said that two of the consultation processes ahead of the DfT declaring its support for the HS2 rail link in January, on compensation and the phase one route, had been flawed.

According to the DfT, the judge agreed that it was lawful for the government to choose to rule out upgrading the existing network as a credible alternative to HS2.

Ouseley also found that the phase one consultation had been carried out fairly and lawfully, the department said.

Burns said: “This is a major, landmark victory for HS2 and the future of Britain. The judge has categorically given the green light for the government to press ahead without delay in building a high-speed railway from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

“We have listened to the judge’s comments about the property compensation consultation and to save time and public money we will re-consult on this aspect – but this will not delay HS2. We remain fully committed to fairly compensating the public who are impacted by the scheme.”

HS2 Action Alliance (HS2AA), which had brought this area of challenge, said the decision was “a major victory for the more than 300,000 households blighted by HS2”.

HS2AA, which represents more than 70 local community groups, said it would appeal against the ruling that the European Strategic Environmental Assessment Regulations did not apply to HS2.

The three other objectors were: Buckinghamshire County Council, representing 15 local authorities along the route; Heathrow Hub; and Aylesbury Park Golf Club.

The local authorities said they would appeal against the decision, while the government said it would be seeking to recoup legal costs from the claimants.

The DfT said there would be a consultation on the draft environmental statement for phase one in the spring and a hybrid bill, which would grant permission for the scheme, would be ready by the end of the year.

The full judgement can be read here.

Results of HS2 Judicial Review due on March 15th

The results of the judicial reviews into the legality of the Government’s plans for HS2 are expected to be handed down at the Royal Courts of Justice next week.

A verdict is expected on Friday, March 15, on the five cases submitted in December, covering issues such as consultation on the plans, environmental impact and the impact on communities.