Town council’s position on school move design brief clarified

FOLLOWING a recent report that Thame Town Council has approved a ‘Design Brief’ for a proposed development on the Lord Williams’s Lower School site (see LINK), a Town Councillor has clarifed what exactly the town council voted for and some background to the decision.

Changes to design

Cllr Bob Austin explained: “At the full council meeting on Tuesday, February 26, Thame Town Council was asked to ‘consider’ the Design Brief prepared by LANPRO on behalf of Lord Williams’s School (LWS). It should be acknowledged that, in response to the public consultation, design changes had been made most notably:

“Housing on the playing field moved to the western side next to Meadowcroft.
Withdrawal of the proposal of vehicular access via Chiltern Grove. Pedestrian access proposal still remains subject to Bowls/Tennis Club approval.
Increased separation of existing properties to new developments.

“At the meeting, Thame Town Council was asked to decide on one of three options:
a) The design brief for the construction of 135 dwellings is approved.
b) As discussed in Lanpro’s letter, that accompanied the design brief document, to allow consideration for the potential number of dwellings on site to be raised, above 135;
c) To reject the design brief, in not conforming to TNP Policy HA5.

The recommendation of the TTC Officer was that: ” ‘Given the incompatibility of b) and c) with core TNP (Thame Neighbourhood Plan) policies, it is recommended that Thame Town Council, follows option a) and considers approving the design brief as illustrated in the submitted document’.

“Thame Town Council approved the Officer’s recommendation.”

Housing numbers will be decided by SODC

“HOWEVER,” reitterated Cllr Austin, “the approval itself does not relate to a planning application. The planning authority SODC will decide on any planning application that comes forward and it is clear that the eventual application may include increases in numbers as proposed in Lanpro’s letter but rejected by TTC.

Cost of amalgamating the two schools remain unknown

“It was stated at the council meeting that LWS is totally dependent on the monies raised from the sale of the Lower School site to finance the amalgamation, yet there is no visibility currently of either the cost of amalgamation or the viability of any current development proposal to finance it. (Ed. This shortfall was recognised back in May 2016 – see LINK )

“In summary, TTC elected to keep as close as possible to the current Thame Neighbourhood Plan.