Update from the public meeting held on 26th March
A public meeting was held at the village hall on Monday 26th March attended by 30 West Hill residents and Parish Councillors. The purpose of the meeting was to enable residents to put their questions and concerns directly to Murray Ross, representing Avalon Planning & Heritage, a planning consultancy advising the owners. The site occupies a key position in the village and consists of retail units and a car park which is heavily used by parents dropping off and collecting children attending the primary school, as well as residents using the McColls shop and Post Office. A formal planning application has yet to be submitted, but preliminary designs submitted by Avalon show the existing 2-storey flat-roofed building being raised to three storeys with a pitched roof and increasing the footprint to include the area currently occupied by outbuildings. The refurbished building will keep the retail units on the ground floor used by McColls, the Post Office, estate agent and a new café. The two upper floors are intended to contain a total of 8 flats, all of which will have balconies. Access to these floors will be via a staircase and there are no plans to install a lift. Part of the car park will be reserved for the flats – probably one space per flat, so 8 in total, to be confirmed. How these would be separated from the public spaces has yet to be decided. The project could take 10-12 months to complete, during which time it is intended that the shop facilities will remain accessible.
In what turned out to be a lively meeting, Mr Ross was quizzed by residents for over an hour. Whilst everyone agreed that the existing building could be much improved, there were concerns about the size of the new building, and how the design would fit in with the theme of a woodland village. Car parking was also a concern – namely the overall effect of reducing spaces available for parents dropping off/picking up children and the potential overflow into neighbouring streets. There were also questions about how HGV delivery lorries would manoeuvre in a smaller car park. On a positive note, residents welcomed the suggestion that a path could be created along the side of the new building to improve pedestrian access from West Hill Road to Beech Park.
Parish Councillor Jo Talbot revealed that the Parish Council had recently received the preliminary findings of a public realm study conducted by LDA Design. The study looked at improving the public spaces in West Hill, including the McColls site, and the findings will be made public in the near future. Mr Ross agreed that his team at Avalon should look at the proposals concerning the McColls site to see whether it might be possible to incorporate some of the ideas into their design before submitting the planning application. He agreed to furnish the Parish Council with more detailed information about the site plan, landscaping proposals, car park plans and the pedestrian path.
The Parish Council is keen to work with the developers to improve the site, which everyone agrees is long overdue. Indeed, the Council made overtures to the developers six months ago when it became apparent that there was something going on, but heard nothing until the official consultation was advertised to residents.
In conclusion, residents and Councillors alike thought that the project offers a unique opportunity to create a proper village “centre” reflecting the character of a woodland village, but that the current proposals could and should be improved. Mr Ross said he would present the feedback from the meeting to his colleagues. A formal planning application will be forthcoming soon.