'There's anger in Marlow about over-development'

9:32am Wednesday 19th September 2012 in News By James Nadal

Wycombe District Council: Campaigners have appealed to planners to say no to the Plough pub development Wycombe District Council: Campaigners have appealed to planners to say no to the Plough pub development

AN UNDERCURRENT of anger is beginning to bubble up about over development in Marlow, according to campaigners fighting new flats.

Members of the Green Verges Neighbourhood Watch Group have been going door to door around the Little Marlow Road area as they seek to stop a plan for The Plough pub.

They have now collected 200 signatures and say the reason residents are responding so enthusiastically to their campaign is because they are 'cheesed off' with the amount of developments in the town lately.

Among the developments cited were the old Bank of England pub in Dean Street, now flats, the Great Marlow School housing project, homes built on the old laundry site on Little Marlow Road, Borlase Gardens in Marlow Road and building schemes along Maple Rise and Dedmere Road.

The group, which has been knocking on doors, said in a statement: “People are incensed, we appear to have stirred up a hornet's nest.

“There's a lot of anger in Marlow at how much overdevelopment there has been.

“As far as the neighbourhood watch group can see, having spoken to many people during this campaign, the people of Marlow are cheese off with them level of development. They are fed up to the back teeth with it.”

Developers want to turn the Plough into six flats, but protesters are fearful about parking chaos and believe the scale of the project is too large.

The neighbourhood watch group say they would not mind if it was two stories high, instead of three, but urged officials at planning authority Wycombe District Council to reject the proposal as it stands.

However, the group was critical of both WDC and Marlow Town Council's role in developments getting through the planning process.

The town council objected to the first Plough application, which was for seven flats, but has not opposed the recent one.

Mayor Jocelyn Towns said: “This showed the required number of parking spaces met the WDC regulations and therefore the town council as consultee could see no planning reasons for turning this application down. At that time, no objections to the application had been submitted.”

Regarding parking fears, she assured residents the matter is being examined. A town wide review is being carried out by Buckinghamshire County Council.

Developer The Plough Marlow Ltd has told the Free Press it worked hard to improve the scheme taking into account all comments made on first application.

It has said in a statement: "The new application is a quality design that aspires to meet the needs of all.

"The revised building is of smaller scale in keeping with local area and offers additional parking and amenity benefits."

With rising costs and competition the pub was no longer a viable business.

A decision is expected before October.

Comments (15)

9:44am Wed 19 Sep 12

Darren Hayday says...

With all of these developments, I find it alarming that the authorities don’t blink an eyelid and don’t stop to think what affect that a rise in population would have on the local schools (which are already oversubscribed..)

How many more developments can be crammed into Marlow (or the surrounding areas in the District)?

We surely need new schools? - At the very least.
With all of these developments, I find it alarming that the authorities don’t blink an eyelid and don’t stop to think what affect that a rise in population would have on the local schools (which are already oversubscribed..) How many more developments can be crammed into Marlow (or the surrounding areas in the District)? We surely need new schools? - At the very least. Darren Hayday

10:37am Wed 19 Sep 12

yog says...

Suspect that with an ageing population most schools will cope but Marlow is predicted to have a drop in primary school children so seems sensible for new affordable housing to go to Marlow.

http://www.buckingha
mshirepartnership.go
v.uk/assets/content/
Partnerships/BSP/doc
s/Demographicfeb2012
.pdf
Suspect that with an ageing population most schools will cope but Marlow is predicted to have a drop in primary school children so seems sensible for new affordable housing to go to Marlow. http://www.buckingha mshirepartnership.go v.uk/assets/content/ Partnerships/BSP/doc s/Demographicfeb2012 .pdf yog

11:12am Wed 19 Sep 12

Darren Hayday says...

yog wrote:
Suspect that with an ageing population most schools will cope but Marlow is predicted to have a drop in primary school children so seems sensible for new affordable housing to go to Marlow.

http://www.buckingha

mshirepartnership.go

v.uk/assets/content/

Partnerships/BSP/doc

s/Demographicfeb2012

.pdf
Yog - on paper I see your point - however in reality, parents want to send their kids to good schools and parents living in Wycombe would look to Marlow and surrounding area's if it meant that it’s the right school for their child to go to.

I think that the catchment area for where they are planning to build new houses is for the Sandygate school - which is over subscribed already.

I don’t think that the birth rate has dropped in so much that it would bring down subscriptions to such schools as Sandygate - also in regards to the Secondary schools - parents are looking towards Great Marlow instead of Cressex or Highcrest.

If perhaps new builds would cater just for retirement aged buyers - then it would be a different story - but I'm assuming that a lot of young families would buy flats or smaller sized new builds.
[quote][p][bold]yog[/bold] wrote: Suspect that with an ageing population most schools will cope but Marlow is predicted to have a drop in primary school children so seems sensible for new affordable housing to go to Marlow. http://www.buckingha mshirepartnership.go v.uk/assets/content/ Partnerships/BSP/doc s/Demographicfeb2012 .pdf[/p][/quote]Yog - on paper I see your point - however in reality, parents want to send their kids to good schools and parents living in Wycombe would look to Marlow and surrounding area's if it meant that it’s the right school for their child to go to. I think that the catchment area for where they are planning to build new houses is for the Sandygate school - which is over subscribed already. I don’t think that the birth rate has dropped in so much that it would bring down subscriptions to such schools as Sandygate - also in regards to the Secondary schools - parents are looking towards Great Marlow instead of Cressex or Highcrest. If perhaps new builds would cater just for retirement aged buyers - then it would be a different story - but I'm assuming that a lot of young families would buy flats or smaller sized new builds. Darren Hayday

11:33am Wed 19 Sep 12

holly4 says...

I think we should also be alert to the large number of commercial properties in Marlow that Michael Shanley is purchasing. To my knowledge he has acquired 5 shops of late ( including those let to the carpet shop/ Indian / charity shop and Huttons and has put the rents up by a vast amount. How can the proprietors get a fair rent if the man owns half of the town? ( he already has others I believe) He can practically charge what he wants!
I think we should also be alert to the large number of commercial properties in Marlow that Michael Shanley is purchasing. To my knowledge he has acquired 5 shops of late ( including those let to the carpet shop/ Indian / charity shop and Huttons and has put the rents up by a vast amount. How can the proprietors get a fair rent if the man owns half of the town? ( he already has others I believe) He can practically charge what he wants! holly4

12:07pm Wed 19 Sep 12

ArnyP_HW says...

Hope his books are in order this time! ;-)
Hope his books are in order this time! ;-) ArnyP_HW

12:40pm Wed 19 Sep 12

Stalemate says...

A bitter pill for Marlovians to swallow.

Detached homeowners in the £300-600k bracket are no longer immune to urban sprawl, you are all now part of the conurbation and the associated problems

One needs £1m+ for a farm purchase to buy true immunity from all of this.
A bitter pill for Marlovians to swallow. Detached homeowners in the £300-600k bracket are no longer immune to urban sprawl, you are all now part of the conurbation and the associated problems One needs £1m+ for a farm purchase to buy true immunity from all of this. Stalemate

1:21pm Wed 19 Sep 12

J B Blackett says...

Stalemate wrote:
A bitter pill for Marlovians to swallow.

Detached homeowners in the £300-600k bracket are no longer immune to urban sprawl, you are all now part of the conurbation and the associated problems

One needs £1m+ for a farm purchase to buy true immunity from all of this.
A farm property or large house with land around it costs a lot more than £1 million in this area (that's currently 1.25 Euros to EU people).
.
Even the mega millionaire Tony Blair had to move beyond Thame to be able to afford / buy a property of his (or probably his wife's) choice.
.
Careful who you move in next to if you move into these 'exclusive' expensive areas. It could be a dodgy quasi-criminal billionaire from ex-Soviet lands. They are not all lovely, well-behaved and polite like the charming people of Marlow.
.
Some of them swear, drink a lot and fight and carry knives and deal in drugs and get arrested quite often, you know. And that's just their children and grand parents..
.
That wouldn't happen in Marlow. Oh, no.
[quote][p][bold]Stalemate[/bold] wrote: A bitter pill for Marlovians to swallow. Detached homeowners in the £300-600k bracket are no longer immune to urban sprawl, you are all now part of the conurbation and the associated problems One needs £1m+ for a farm purchase to buy true immunity from all of this.[/p][/quote]A farm property or large house with land around it costs a lot more than £1 million in this area (that's currently 1.25 Euros to EU people). . Even the mega millionaire Tony Blair had to move beyond Thame to be able to afford / buy a property of his (or probably his wife's) choice. . Careful who you move in next to if you move into these 'exclusive' expensive areas. It could be a dodgy quasi-criminal billionaire from ex-Soviet lands. They are not all lovely, well-behaved and polite like the charming people of Marlow. . Some of them swear, drink a lot and fight and carry knives and deal in drugs and get arrested quite often, you know. And that's just their children and grand parents.. . That wouldn't happen in Marlow. Oh, no. J B Blackett

1:37pm Wed 19 Sep 12

sparky49 says...

Darren Hayday wrote:
With all of these developments, I find it alarming that the authorities don’t blink an eyelid and don’t stop to think what affect that a rise in population would have on the local schools (which are already oversubscribed..)

How many more developments can be crammed into Marlow (or the surrounding areas in the District)?

We surely need new schools? - At the very least.
Local schools oversubscribed? Great Marlow has a large proportion of children from outside Marlow as it is. Therefore not oversubsribed. As for the Plough if the 200 odd moaners had used the pub in the first place, it would still be open, problem solved.
[quote][p][bold]Darren Hayday[/bold] wrote: With all of these developments, I find it alarming that the authorities don’t blink an eyelid and don’t stop to think what affect that a rise in population would have on the local schools (which are already oversubscribed..) How many more developments can be crammed into Marlow (or the surrounding areas in the District)? We surely need new schools? - At the very least.[/p][/quote]Local schools oversubscribed? Great Marlow has a large proportion of children from outside Marlow as it is. Therefore not oversubsribed. As for the Plough if the 200 odd moaners had used the pub in the first place, it would still be open, problem solved. sparky49

2:18pm Wed 19 Sep 12

678 says...

holly4 wrote:
I think we should also be alert to the large number of commercial properties in Marlow that Michael Shanley is purchasing. To my knowledge he has acquired 5 shops of late ( including those let to the carpet shop/ Indian / charity shop and Huttons and has put the rents up by a vast amount. How can the proprietors get a fair rent if the man owns half of the town? ( he already has others I believe) He can practically charge what he wants!
Shanley has bought those shops on Spittal Street as he he trying to build a block of flats behind them!

He has already submitted planning permission as Sorbon Estates.

He is also trying to build flats behind the office block on Spittal/Dean street which used to house Glue & HMV
[quote][p][bold]holly4[/bold] wrote: I think we should also be alert to the large number of commercial properties in Marlow that Michael Shanley is purchasing. To my knowledge he has acquired 5 shops of late ( including those let to the carpet shop/ Indian / charity shop and Huttons and has put the rents up by a vast amount. How can the proprietors get a fair rent if the man owns half of the town? ( he already has others I believe) He can practically charge what he wants![/p][/quote]Shanley has bought those shops on Spittal Street as he he trying to build a block of flats behind them! He has already submitted planning permission as Sorbon Estates. He is also trying to build flats behind the office block on Spittal/Dean street which used to house Glue & HMV 678

5:15pm Wed 19 Sep 12

townraider says...

Lets give Marlow something to worry about . Join it to High Wycombe with infill developments !!
Lets give Marlow something to worry about . Join it to High Wycombe with infill developments !! townraider

5:33pm Wed 19 Sep 12

J B Blackett says...

The people of Wycombe do not really want to be connected to Marlow and vice versa for the people of Marlow.
.
But the developers, officials, financiers, politicians and councillors with an interest may see that it happens. So please do not encourage them in any way.
.
These self-seeking people work by use of divisiveness and setting ordinary people at each others throats - just like as is done in some religions - that how they seek to have control over people. A method used by all despots and dictators or mere sneaky petty politicians down the centuries.
.
I repeat - do not encourage them.
The people of Wycombe do not really want to be connected to Marlow and vice versa for the people of Marlow. . But the developers, officials, financiers, politicians and councillors with an interest may see that it happens. So please do not encourage them in any way. . These self-seeking people work by use of divisiveness and setting ordinary people at each others throats - just like as is done in some religions - that how they seek to have control over people. A method used by all despots and dictators or mere sneaky petty politicians down the centuries. . I repeat - do not encourage them. J B Blackett

11:54pm Wed 19 Sep 12

gpn01 says...

yog wrote:
Suspect that with an ageing population most schools will cope but Marlow is predicted to have a drop in primary school children so seems sensible for new affordable housing to go to Marlow.

http://www.buckingha

mshirepartnership.go

v.uk/assets/content/

Partnerships/BSP/doc

s/Demographicfeb2012

.pdf
The report says that in the next 15 years there's likely to EVENTUALLY be a decreasing primary school population. That's possibly correct (who knows what the next 15 years will bring). Meanwhile DURING the next 15 years I'd expect the primary school demand to increase - partly based on spending time in Marlow seeing how many families are strolling around with young babies currently and partly based on the continued inflow of young people from other areas (that'll be further increased if there's relatively low cost accomodation coming onto the market).
[quote][p][bold]yog[/bold] wrote: Suspect that with an ageing population most schools will cope but Marlow is predicted to have a drop in primary school children so seems sensible for new affordable housing to go to Marlow. http://www.buckingha mshirepartnership.go v.uk/assets/content/ Partnerships/BSP/doc s/Demographicfeb2012 .pdf[/p][/quote]The report says that in the next 15 years there's likely to EVENTUALLY be a decreasing primary school population. That's possibly correct (who knows what the next 15 years will bring). Meanwhile DURING the next 15 years I'd expect the primary school demand to increase - partly based on spending time in Marlow seeing how many families are strolling around with young babies currently and partly based on the continued inflow of young people from other areas (that'll be further increased if there's relatively low cost accomodation coming onto the market). gpn01

11:56pm Wed 19 Sep 12

gpn01 says...

Darren Hayday wrote:
With all of these developments, I find it alarming that the authorities don’t blink an eyelid and don’t stop to think what affect that a rise in population would have on the local schools (which are already oversubscribed..)

How many more developments can be crammed into Marlow (or the surrounding areas in the District)?

We surely need new schools? - At the very least.
Is this proof then that having a parish council, and even a town council, doesn't benefit the area? How does that compare with the counter-claims being made that High Wycombe does need a town council to represent the local community?
[quote][p][bold]Darren Hayday[/bold] wrote: With all of these developments, I find it alarming that the authorities don’t blink an eyelid and don’t stop to think what affect that a rise in population would have on the local schools (which are already oversubscribed..) How many more developments can be crammed into Marlow (or the surrounding areas in the District)? We surely need new schools? - At the very least.[/p][/quote]Is this proof then that having a parish council, and even a town council, doesn't benefit the area? How does that compare with the counter-claims being made that High Wycombe does need a town council to represent the local community? gpn01

9:10am Thu 20 Sep 12

Marlow_AP says...

Note to Stalemate - I live in Marlow. Funnily enough I don't live in a mansion. Just a terraced house. We're not all loaded. But I am concerned at the number of flats/houses being crammed into an already highly populated area. The infrastructure of the town cannot cope with the continual influx of people - we have one GP surgery for example. Then you hear of Shanly buying up all of the commercial properties and driving out the tenants with high rents. God knows how this will impact the town long term - the man's hardly a philanthropist!
Note to Stalemate - I live in Marlow. Funnily enough I don't live in a mansion. Just a terraced house. We're not all loaded. But I am concerned at the number of flats/houses being crammed into an already highly populated area. The infrastructure of the town cannot cope with the continual influx of people - we have one GP surgery for example. Then you hear of Shanly buying up all of the commercial properties and driving out the tenants with high rents. God knows how this will impact the town long term - the man's hardly a philanthropist! Marlow_AP

9:43am Sun 23 Sep 12

DonRockell says...

The unfortunate fact is that Marlow has been used for the past 50 years as a dumping ground for those who think it very quaint to live in a river side town - It started with estates being built like Hillside, Seymour plain, Spinfield, Green Vergers - Pound lane (built on a flood plain Followed by the Wiltshire Road developments built partly on Great Marlow school land, Barnards Hill and Redshots both built on Green Belt land

All were built on Green field sites and very few of the houses were ever given over to local people

As house prices rose and so called social housing became un-affordable to local families and children of Marlow Families, some of whom had been there for generations it has left an almost total dormitory town where its inhabitants have more in common with London than Marlow

And they worry about a few flats - Green Vergers was a an undeveloped site until 1964/5 and the self same people moaning about a development of a pub that has failed 3 times in recent years when there own houses would not even be there if the same complaints were used at the time of there building.

Add that to the number of pubs that have been lost and I know of at least 7 gone from Marlow alone and very few complaints were raised about these closures and developments

No I'm not keen on the proposed development but you can thank the Drink laws and changes to the way we now live for the pub closing, like wise I miss much of the green fields, walks and places now all gone to housing that I knew when I was younger and I would much rather have a few flats on the site than a derelict pub left to rot.
The unfortunate fact is that Marlow has been used for the past 50 years as a dumping ground for those who think it very quaint to live in a river side town - It started with estates being built like Hillside, Seymour plain, Spinfield, Green Vergers - Pound lane (built on a flood plain Followed by the Wiltshire Road developments built partly on Great Marlow school land, Barnards Hill and Redshots both built on Green Belt land All were built on Green field sites and very few of the houses were ever given over to local people As house prices rose and so called social housing became un-affordable to local families and children of Marlow Families, some of whom had been there for generations it has left an almost total dormitory town where its inhabitants have more in common with London than Marlow And they worry about a few flats - Green Vergers was a an undeveloped site until 1964/5 and the self same people moaning about a development of a pub that has failed 3 times in recent years when there own houses would not even be there if the same complaints were used at the time of there building. Add that to the number of pubs that have been lost and I know of at least 7 gone from Marlow alone and very few complaints were raised about these closures and developments No I'm not keen on the proposed development but you can thank the Drink laws and changes to the way we now live for the pub closing, like wise I miss much of the green fields, walks and places now all gone to housing that I knew when I was younger and I would much rather have a few flats on the site than a derelict pub left to rot. DonRockell

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