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We have objected to a planning application from Bramley Homes for two houses on land next to the former Live and Let Live pub at Booker Common, High Wycombe, Bucks. The society is concerned that the development could have an adverse effect on the adjoining Booker Common and public bridleway.
The development site is on the left. The converted pub is further along on the left, with its hardstanding possibly encroaching on the bridleway. Booker Common is to the right.
The planning statement does not refer to the common or the bridleway, the developers seem oblivious of the need to protect them. Instead they refer to access being by ‘the existing lane’ but that so-called lane is in fact a public bridleway enjoyed by walkers, riders and cyclists. These users could be inconvenienced and even endangered by the construction vehicles.
This is a tranquil area in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, much enjoyed for quiet recreation. We believe that the development will conflict with that enjoyment and there is a risk that it will encroach onto both the common and the bridleway. We suspect that the converted pub already encroaches on the bridleway.
The developer obtained consent for two dwellings on the site in 2012 but these are smaller than currently proposed, ie two- and three-bedrooms, as opposed to three- and four-bedrooms. With bigger buildings there may be more vehicles and more disruption for the public.