This is what the planned new 146-home housing estate on former Wooburn reserve site Slate Meadow could look like.
Slate Meadow was one of five reserve sites along with Abbey Barn South, Abbey Barn North, Terriers Farm and Gomm Valley and Ashwells to be released for development in a controversial move by Wycombe District Council in October 2014.
Campaigners have fought for years to protect the green space from development, along with surrounding areas Jacksons Field and Hollands Farm, which are also expected to be built on by other developers.
Outline plans for up to 150 homes on the picturesque meadow were approved back in July 2019, but how the actual homes will eventually look were to be unveiled later.
Those designs have now been revealed by developers Croudace Homes – and appear to include plans for two and a half storey blocks of flats, which is already proving controversial for existing neighbours.
One Stratford Drive resident has objected to the plans, urging developers to scrap the blocks of flats because they are “not in keeping” with nearby houses.
Geoff Britt said: “The proposed four blocks of so-called two and a half storey flats have three floors plus a gabled roof and should be removed from the plan as they are not in keeping with the adjacent dwellings of Stratford Drive, which are only at two-storey height.”
According to the new plans, the Slate Meadow housing will be split up into three distinct areas and the houses in each will look different.
‘The Avenue’, which will follow the main spine road through the site, will lead to a planned “village square” and the houses there will have red brick and render walls, red or natural slate roofs and metal balconies.
They will also have sash-style windows, will look “symmetrical” and will front a wide “tree-lined boulevard”.
Most of the buildings will be two-storey, but feature buildings that will be 2.5-storey will feature near the village green and central open space. They will also be mostly semi-detached and detached homes.
The houses in the ‘Green Edge’ will look out onto green open spaces and will be larger detached or semi-detached homes. The walls will be brick and flint with red tile or natural slate roofs.
They will also have large front gardens with “ornamental planting”.
The third area is the ‘Mews’, which will be off the main spine road in their own square. They will be two-storey homes with off-street parking, yellow brick walls with red brick features and red plain or natural slate roofs.
The homes will be a mix of one and two-bed flats and two, three and four-bed houses, with some designated as affordable.
Croudace Homes say the house designs will “incorporate the best of local architecture styles” found in Bourne End and Wooburn Green.
A total of 376 parking spaces are planned, with 59 of those for visitors. All of the proposed streets through the site will be “designed to encourage low vehicle speeds”, with plans for some shared-surface streets where pedestrians get priority.
There will also be a mix of open spaces, including a central open space, a village green and other green spaces surrounding the housing estate.
You can view the full plans online at the wycombe.gov.uk planning portal using reference - 21/07006/REM.
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