PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT AFFECTING OUR VILLAGE –

The Planning Inspector has recently decided to allow a planning appeal submitted by St Leonard’s Parochial Church for the redevelopment of the site. A link to the Inspector’s report is below:

https://www.cheshamboispc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/St-Leonards-Church-Hall-Glebe-Way-Appeal-Decision-3343635.pdf

The planning application relates to the development of land in the heart of the Chesham Bois Conservation Area,  on Glebe Way near the War Memorial.  St. Leonard’s Parochial Church Council wish to demolish the parish centre and the 1980’s ‘New Rectory’ house in order to build a large scale commercial complex that would include:

• two, large halls, (one ‘in-the-round’ and one rectangular in shape)
• a number of meeting rooms and offices and  a church-led café;
• a car park for 114 vehicles;
• a new, detached rectory dwelling  adjacent to North Road;
• a separate building for a public nursery;
• a detached, prayer room building; and
• a social ‘fire-pit’ in the grounds,

This amounts to a potential capacity of more than 400 people attending a  single event.  The hours of operation would be from 07.00 to 23.00 every day.

On behalf of the majority of residents known to oppose the scale of the development and to ascertain the position of the council as owner of the  Common Land, the Parish Council has resolved to allocate funds from general reserves to obtain legal advice on this matter.

The next scheduled elections in Buckinghamshire will be held on Thursday 1 May 2025.

This will be to elect 97 Councillors to Buckinghamshire Council and Councillors to town and parish councils (if contested).

Please see below link to Notice of Election:

https://www.cheshamboispc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025.05.01-Notice-of-Election-Parish.pdf

Buckinghamshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy public consultation is now live and runs until 24th March. Follow the link below to complete the interactive survey:

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b528ba7392794ffca1719e5409275692

The Planning Inspector who visited the Parish Centre on Glebe Way on 28/1/25 has published their decision to allow the appeal submitted by St. Leonard’s Parochial Church Council, (PCC). The news has been posted on the Bucks. Council planning portal today, link:

PL/22/4074/FA | Redevelopment of the site to create a new multifunctional Parish Centre with cafe, day nursery building, replacement rectory with detached garage, 2 outbuildings to provide prayer room and substation/bin and bicycle store, associated parking and landscaping | St Leonards Church Hall Glebe Way Chesham Bois Buckinghamshire HP6 5ND

The PCC wish to demolish the parish centre and New Rectory in order to build a commercial development to accommodate around 400 people on site and a car park for 114 vehicles in the centre of the Chesham Bois Conservation Area, operating between 07.00 and 23.00 every day of the week.  

Chesham Bois Parish Council is a statutory consultee in planning matters and has opposed the proposed development on behalf of the majority of residents who responded to our survey about the planning application. The survey was distributed to households as a hand delivered leaflet in 2023 soon after the planning application was submitted. The primary reasons that people objected to the planning application were the enormous scale of the proposed public buildings; the car park for more than 100 vehicles; and the hours of operation.

The Parish Council is also an interested party with regard to the planning application as owner of the Common Land surrounding the proposed development site.  Access across Common Land would be required for the proposed development and the Planning Inspector’s rationale for allowing the appeal will be considered at a meeting of the Parish Council. 

Please note the Planning Committee Meeting due be held on Monday 10th February will not go ahead as due to Councillors’ absence the meeting will not be quorate. The meeting of the Council will go ahead as planned at 8 pm.

Biodiversity is the key word in managing our natural environment nowadays; with this in mind the Parish Council sought expert advice as to how to manage Bricky Pond to ensure its biodiversity is protected and improved.
Tests conducted in November revealed that the water quality is currently good. We know that we have toads, frogs and newts breeding there but to encourage more wildlife and invertebrates, it is inadvisable to conduct a thorough clearance of the pond every year. Instead, a small team of Parish Council volunteers have waded in to remove the larger debris and cut back the water margins, but have held back on doing anything more invasive as the toads have already spawned and the newts and frogs will soon follow.
We will be keeping a close eye on the pond to monitor whether this gentler approach is successful. In the meantime, we would ask dog walkers to ensure that their dogs avoid paddling in the pond if at all possible. The products used to keep our dogs, flea, tick and worm free can get into the pond water which is obviously very damaging for all the creatures who live there.