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Parish Projects

PROPOSED PARISH PROJECTS

Connectivity -Broadband.
Due to the increased requirement for hybrid working reliable and fast broadband services are required for the Parish. The 1,000 new homes, and any supporting businesses that will result from the development of RAF Halton, must be provided with fibre broadband services as a minimum.

Community 
NPPF (98) states that access to a network of high-quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity is important for the health and wellbeing of communities and can deliver wider benefits for nature and support efforts to address climate change. Over the years the MOD disposed of the village and further plots of land for development but no community provision was made. The village is surrounded by MOD land but has no green space of its own. The Permanent Under Secretary for Defence assured Halton Parish Council (at their February 2016 meeting), that this deficit would be addressed as part of the planning process (Appendix 18). Halton Village has no village green, allotments, play parks or a sports pitch.

The Parish Council conducted two studies into the feasibility and affordability of community green spaces. The first is the Allotment Survey, which was conducted in consultation with Parishioners. It identifies suitable areas for allotment provision and how the Parish Council would administer the allotment sites. The second is The Sports Field and Green Spaces Paper, which identifies the Parish requirements for sporting amenities, village green spaces, and a community centre. It states the Parish requirement and the way in which the Parish Council would promote and maintain the infrastructure. The Parish Council conducted a separate exercise to ensure that all green spaces including the sports pitches can be maintained and utilised for the benefit of the parishioners and wider community. Without considering future income, and based only on the current and future precept (which will eventually include an extra 1,000 homes); retaining the sports and leisure facilities is deemed affordable.

a) Allotments. Halton Village should be provided with allotments for the size of the present village (currently residents drive to allotments at Wendover and Weston Turville). All allotments in Halton Parish will be owned, run and administered by Halton Parish Council. At the request of the DIO the Parish Council conducted and Allotments Survey which can be viewed here.

b) Village Green. Halton Village should be provided with a green space which would allow the present community to exercise and hold community events such as the village fete. The cricket pitch, which residents (since Covid) are permitted to use for recreation, would be ideal as it lies within the green belt. The Halton Parish Council - Sports Field and Green Spaces Paper can be viewed here.

c) Sports Pitches. The Community wishes to maintain access to the sporting facilities after the closure of RAF Halton, see Section 106 Projects for details.

d) Community Centre. The Parish will require a larger community facility to complement the current village hall.

e) Medical Facilities.
The Nhs Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group did not include provision for GP Facilities for the RAF Halton site in the VALP, as they ‘no longer align with Nhs real estate goals of provision of healthcare at scale. The current plan is to build a ‘super surgery’ on the Stoke Mandeville Hospital site, which will serve patients (circa 20,000) from new housing developments being built around the South of Aylesbury including the Halton site. This centralisation of services is not aligned with current Nhs Policy, which is to provide medical services within the local community. The Parish Council will continue to lobby for medical provision to be included within the RAF Halton site.

SECTION 106 PROJECTS

The following are projects that the neighbourhood plan identifies section 106 and any future Community Infrastructure Levy monies should be used towards, subject to meeting the tests of the CIL Regulations.

Community

Allotments. The provision of allotments shall be incorporated into the development of the RAF Halton site; not all of the 1,000 homes will have gardens as many residents will be in apartments when the barrack blocks are repurposed. Land with allotment sites will be owned, managed and administered by Halton Parish Council. 

Sports Pitches. RAF Halton’s sporting heritage will be lost when the MOD disposes of the site to a property developer. This will be a huge loss to the local community and local and wider sports clubs which use the sports pitches and AstroTurf. Halton Parish Council wishes to take over ownership of the Hockey Astroturf and floodlights, the Sports Pitches in front of the Nuffield Pavilion and the football pitch and running track (all abutting Halton Lane). All areas are in the Green Belt and the Parish Council will not only continue to achieve RAF Halton’s sporting legacy, but will also retain the green open spaces that characterise the village. The Parish Council has conducted a feasibility study. 

Community Hall. Halton Village Hall will be too small to accommodate the influx of new parishioners. Halton Parish is entitled to a new Community Centre which will support the substantially increased Halton Community. Rather than a new build, Halton Parish Council wishes to re-purpose the Nuffield Pavilion and its adjacent carpark as its new Community Centre.

The Nuffield Pavilion will require some modification for disability access to the first-floor conference room, and to accommodate a Parish Office. The changing rooms would allow Halton Parish Council to hire out the sports fields to local clubs, and take over the maintenance of the pitches immediately on disposal to ensure continuity for clubs, and no 45 degradation of the facilities. The rental income would be reinvested in the sporting infrastructure for the benefit of the local community. Its location between the old village and the new development makes it central to bringing the community together as one. There is a lack of parking in the village so the carpark would supply much needed parking for visitors and events. 

Village School. The Parish Council has connected with the Halton Combined Community School (HCCS) management, and the school will need to double in size to accommodate the pupils from the RAF Halton development. The present school is in the Green Belt and has no capacity to extend. The optimum solution is for the old Halton primary school and its sports field to be refurbished (currently the Bucks County Museum Archive). The current youth centre (originally the RAF Catholic Church) stands between the current school buildings and the old Halton primary school, and would provide an ideal school hall (equidistant between the two buildings). The narrow road which is accessed from the B4009 is one way and has a small Buckinghamshire Council carpark. The road and carpark would serve both schools making an ideal lower and upper school campus.