October 2017

The Parish Council has been advised of recent incidents when bus drivers on the local Arriva and First bus routes have refused to accept bus passes as valid between 9am and 9.30am. Bus pass holders have been turned away on the grounds that the ticket machine says the bus stop is in Slough where the rules are different.

To be clear any bus pass holders from the parish trying to catch a bus at a bus stop within the parish have a right to use their bus pass on any bus after 9am.

If this has happened to you since 20^th October 2017 can you please let the Parish Council Clerk know. Either ring 01753 648497 or email clerk@farnhamroyal-pc.gov.uk . We would be happy to keep a record of any such incidents and take the issue up with Bucks County Council or the bus companies directly.

At our meeting on 23rd October we were delighted to co-opt Bill Baker as the new councillor for the vacant seat. Bill has lived in Farnham Common for 40 years and has been an active campaigner on a number of projects in the Parish. He is a retired chartered surveyor.

Much of the meeting was take up with issues regarding development in the parish. It was agreed to robustly defend the most recent attempt by Slough to land grab some of South Bucks; there was debate on an approach from a local developer to develop Green Belt land in our parish, and the Council will be working on the development of a new brownfield register for the area.

If you care about any of these issues please have your say – contact the Clerk and let us know what you think. We think that the only way to have any control of development in our parish to to develop a Neighbourhood Plan. This is a Plan which becomes part of planning law and must be adhered to by the planning authority when determining what type of development can take place where. This will take a small dedicated team of people working with us and planning consultants to achieve. There is a process of consultation that has to be gone through and analysed. If you think this is something you want to be involved with please contact the Clerk as soon as possible.

Grove Court Properties have developed revised proposals for the former Haymill garage and car dealership on Beaconsfield Road for a reduced scheme.

As you may recall, proposals for a care home for the elderly on the site was refused planning permission earlier this year and is currently going through the appeal process. Grove Court Properties is preparing to submit a revised smaller application which addresses the previous reasons for refusal. They are therefore inviting local residents to meet with them and discuss the plans on Monday 9 October. They say they will be in the area between 4pm and 8pm and will meet with residents if they are contacted to do so.

Should you have any queries on the scheme or wish to meet with them, please do not hesitate to contact  Lauren Whipp on 01296 678320 or email c.bushe@devcomms.co.uk