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Stoke Mandeville TodayIntroductionBefore setting out on the journey into the future of the parish, it is important to be aware of howthe parish is today. This is an overview of the current parish and its life, based on materialsproduced during the development of evidence papers which support plan policies.1HistoryThere has been a village on the site of Stoke Mandeville since before the Domesday Book. And formany years after that, the village was a typical rural settlement with landowner families taking theirshare of leading the local population. It was the enclosure acts of the late eighteenth century thatsaw major changes in the village as it developed around the road junctions gaining importance aslocal turnpike roads grew up.One of the biggest changes of all came with the advent of the railways at the end of the nineteenthcentury. Quick and easy access to London and the North paved the way for the post war expansionof Aylesbury and the development of new housing estates in the north of the parish whichcontinued to the 1980s and 90s.2Settlement developmentDespite its long history, Stoke Mandeville Parish is primarily a post-WW2 suburban area, which hasabsorbed a small Victorian nucleated neighbourhood1 from which it takes its name. The Parishconsists of 4 distinct neighbourhoods, to which strategic development will soon add a fifth and sixth.The Parish has seen continuous and recently massive growth in housing numbers, but no recentproportionate development of community or leisure facilities and the Parish and its neighbourhoodslack cohesion or a strong sense of identity. The remaining open agricultural land within the Parish israpidly being taken for development, radically altering the nature of the Parish.The Parish is currently made up of A block of houses and flats of eclectic design, along and around Station Road, currently largelyseparated from the built-up area of Aylesbury by agricultural land. This developmentincorporates the historic pre-war village neighbourhood and is still commonly known as ‘theVillage of Stoke Mandeville’. Stoke Leys, a 1970’s estate development in the north-west of the Parish to the east of theAylesbury-Wycombe railway line on the boundary of and contiguous with the Aylesbury urbanarea. Hawkslade, a 1980’s estate housing development in the north-west of the Parish to the west ofthe Aylesbury-Wycombe railway line on the boundary of and contiguous with the Aylesburyurban area Stoke Grange, a 1980’s estate development in the north-east of the Parish on and behindWendover Road on the boundary of and contiguous with the Aylesbury urban area.Page 8 of 50

The submission draft of the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan calls for the provision of at least 1000houses in the fields within Stoke Mandeville Parish, south of Stoke Mandeville Hospital.These houses are, according to the VALP, to be ‘a new comprehensively planned garden communityin an urban extension to the town, which is derived from the field pattern and landscape features onthe site’. These 1000 houses, however they are laid out, would make up nearly a quarter of the totalfuture Parish housing on a site separated from and having a character distinct from any of theestablished neighbourhood sites. These new houses would thus form a new, fifth and possibly sixth,neighbourhood within the Parish.3HousingThe range of housing in the parish as a whole covers all types from studios, flats and maisonettes todetached properties. In terms of housing density, urban high densities are not seen anywhere in theparish even though housing density varies across the neighbourhoods of the parish.Housing in Stoke Mandeville is predominantly owner-occupied. The 2011 census suggested that81% was owner-occupied compared to 71% for Buckinghamshire as a whole at the time. Thecurrent figure is believed to be comparable.In 2011, over 2/3 of the households (67%) were families with the remainder mainly single-personhouseholds. 14% of households were made up only of people over pension age, with 30% ofhouseholds having dependent children.Recent data suggest that since 2011 there has been a growth in pensioner households, perhaps toaround a fifth of households, with a corresponding growth in single-person pensioner households.The same data suggests a fall in households which are families with dependent children, perhapsfrom a third to a fifth of all households.Census data shows that, in 2011, 60% of those of economically active ages in the Parish (16 to 74)were working. Unemployment in working age groups (18 – 65) was very low and a significantnumber of older people were still working. These are all trends seen in Buckinghamshire as a wholeand the Parish is not exceptional. More recent data suggests that employment remains very highand that, as pensioner households have increased, so the number of working pensionerhouseholders has proportionately grown.4Business and FarmingThere are around 20 centres of business around the Parish with currently 211 known businesseswithin the Parish of which 177 are registered businesses with Bucks Business First. These includecommercial, service, light industrial, farming and agricultural businesses. Over 130 Parish businessesare registered from home addresses and are likely to be single individuals and are not visible in theParish.Although Stoke Mandeville Hospital does not fall within the Parish boundary, it is immediatelyadjacent to the Parish and is its principal local employer. The hospital has 431 beds and provides awide range of health services to Buckinghamshire and beyond including 24-hour accident andemergency, maternity, cancer care and outpatient services. It is also the site for the NHS regionalburns and plastics unit and eye care unit, and the National Spinal Injuries Centre. There is a SouthCentral Ambulance Service depot and hub on the site. Stoke Mandeville Hospital is a very significantlocal and regional employment site, with around 2000 staff employed at the site5.Page 9 of 50

Most of the land within Stoke Mandeville Parish is still working farmland, although this is diminishingquickly as housing development continues. Agricultural land use is largely for arable crops such aswheat and barley, but some animal husbandry also takes place. Approximately 10 people arebelieved to be employed on agribusinesses within the Parish.There are 7 farms listed as working businesses within the Parish. Two farms recently have beenpurchased by the Secretary of State for Transport in order to allow the HS2 rail project to proceed,and a further two have diversified and are no longer primarily agribusinesses. Of the 3 agribusinessfarms in the Parish, two have rented their land for working by farming businesses outside the Parish,with only one now remaining as a working farm owned and worked by a business within the Parish.5Public facilitiesPrincipal public facilities available within the Parish include: There are two schools in the Parish, Stoke Mandeville Combined School and Booker Parkschool, both of which are currently operating at near to or over capacity. There are currently no medical (medical, dental, pharmacy practitioners) facilities availablewithin the Parish At the time of compiling the information on places of worship, there was a Church ofEngland church and a Methodist church. Since that time the Methodist church has closed asa working church. In addition, the Community Centre in Hawkslade hosts the HawksladeCommunity Church on Sunday mornings. There are currently two burial grounds in the Parish, one of which is closed. In addition,the Parish Council has received planning permission to use their land in Marsh Lane as afuture burial ground of some 800 plots. The Parish Council owns a parcel of land behind the Combined School in the village, whichhas been used as a series of allotments for many years. Broadband coverage for the Parish of Stoke Mandeville comes principally from the Aylesburyexchange in the town centre for the neighbourhoods of Stoke Grange, Stoke Leys andHawkslade with the Stoke Mandeville exchange covering the village. A range of broadbandproviders is available from each exchange although fibre is available only from the Aylesburyexchange. As a result, the fastest download speeds noted from test results are generally inthe northern neighbourhoods of the Parish served by the Aylesbury exchange. Mobile phone coverage in the Parish is provided by all four of the major nationalproviders. Signal strength in Stoke Mandeville Parish areas (where data is collected)indicates that with the exception of ‘Three’, major providers offer a generally good toacceptable signal strength, though there are inevitably isolated weaker areas.Page 10 of 50

6Community facilitiesIn general, the parish is not well provided with community facilities compared, for example, with thenew Kingsbrook development in Bierton. Facilities present in Stoke Mandeville consist of Play areas in the village adjacent to the Community Centre and a newly constructed area inHawkslade adjacent to new development. There is a play area in Waivers Way which isavailable to residents of Stoke Grange but which is situated outside the Parish. For leisure and recreation, the Parish has the Community Centre in the village which offers ahall and meeting rooms for hire plus the Queen Elizabeth II playing field and a range ofoutdoor sport and exercise facilities. There is a second Community Centre in Hawkslade, owned now by Buckinghamshire Council,which also offers a hall and rooms for hire but there is no green space attached to thisbuilding. The Parish Church of St Mary The Virgin, has a church room which is available for hire and isused regularly by charitable groups and a youth group. The Parish has an extensive network of public rights of way within and linking to beyondthe Parish A visiting library from AVDC was available in the village neighbourhood until this serviceceased on 31 May 2018. Until recently, the Buckinghamshire County Council Sports Club and playing field provided afurther venue for local sports clubs and an amenity to the public, which included facilities forfootball – three adult pitches - (and cricket and tennis) and a sport and socialclub/pavilion. This facility still exists though now closed and disused. This has beennominated as an asset of community value since several years ago, and for a further fiveyear period starting from 13th August 2020Page 11 of 50

7Green InfrastructureThe major areas of green space in the Parish are agricultural. Many of these agricultural areascontain hedgerows which can be considered important in heritage terms and which would normallybe worthy of mention. However, most, if not quite not all, of them are situated in the path of theLondon to West Midlands High speed railway line, HS2, and will be destroyed by construction of theline itself or by the excavation and subsequent destruction of St Mary’s Old Church which liesdirectly in the path of HS2, as designed.Other Green Infrastructure includes: Stoke Brook and its tributaries, the only surface water flowing through the Parish The biological notification site (BNS) which covers an area between North LeeLane and Risborough Road, part of which falls within the Parish. Although there are no notifiable species in the Parish noted by BMERC, they do list 95specimens of Black Poplar trees which, though relatively common locally, are nationally rare. There are a number of green spaces in the parish, most of which are relatively small areas ofrelief from development within or adjacent to housing estates. It will be the intention of theplan to designate the majority of these spaces as “designated local green spaces.“ There are a number of Tree Preservation Orders on trees within the Parish. Inevitablybecause of the relative age and available space of the properties concerned, the majority,though not all, are in the village neighbourhood. There is no formal park within the Parish. However, residents – mostly of the villageneighbourhood – do sometimes refer to the Community Centre recreation ground as ‘thepark.’ Residents’ comments indicate that they value highly those areas on parish major roadswhich have the benefit of wide grassy verges such as Risborough Road and Lower Road8Road and transport infrastructureThis is a complex Parish and the following points summarise current road and transportinfrastructure issues: The Parish has two very busy major roads (A413 and A4010) running through it and feedingtraffic in and out of Aylesbury. Some areas have good road and transport infrastructure connecting them to other parts ofthe Parish and other areas do not. This is the result of lack of joined up thinking over theyears when housing developments have been built. There are many cul-de-sacPage 12 of 50

developments, which do not allow pedestrian access to adjoining areas. The roads in some areas are close to capacity and are congested. The future housing andnew roads planned need careful consideration to ensure they help manage vehicle capacityand movement issues and not just add to them. Most of the Parish is covered by various bus services. However, with the future roadchanges, it is essential these service routes are preserved or improved to allow residents thechoice of public transport instead of individual transport. Stoke Mandeville enjoys access to a good train service and this will be enhanced in thefuture when it joins up (via Aylesbury station) with the new East West rail line. Various off road cycle routes serve the Parish but they do not extend fully acrossthe Parish and do not join all areas. There is room for improvement and enhancement in thefuture to optimise connectivity. Investment here could help to take some motor vehicles offthe road. Pavements across the Parish allow pedestrians foot access to housing, but there is noconnected network of paths which allow pedestrians to cross the Parish to populardestinations. This encourages car use. The state of the pavements is a barrierto independent travel by many older and disabled people.9Issues of local concernThere have been several consultations with residents as part of the process of development of theplan. Analysis of responses to those consultations and results from a survey delivered to everyhousehold in the Parish, illustrate those concerns important to residents. The issues emerging as ofmost concern to residents are:Housing There is general concern over future housing development and the pressure it will cause onboth the physical infrastructure and the rural aspects of the parish. A significant proportion of residents who believe that there should be affordable housing inthe parish think that this should be for local people or those with a connection to StokeMandeville New dwellings in the parish should have both off street parking and gardens. New housing fits in visuallyPage 13 of 50

EnvironmentThe general feeling is that there is a need for the protection of green spaces and landscape featuresthroughout Stoke Mandeville. Areas of the parish which should specifically be protected include: The Queen Elizabeth II Playing Field The green in front of the school The burial ground in Swallow Lane The green at the entrance to the allotments The green at the centre of Carter’s RideViews to protect from any form of development include views from across Stoke Mandeville of theChilterns and Coombe HillSpecific environmental concerns include the amount of litter and fly tipping within the parish. Peoplewould also like more creation of wildlife meadows and corridors and landscaping of public areas.Transport/TrafficMajor traffic concerns include the volume and speed of traffic and the number and size ofcommercial vehicles passing through the parish, with many people thinking weight restrictions ontraffic would be a good idea.Station Road emerged as the area generating most concerns.Local ServicesThere is a general feeling that it is important that there should always be adequate provision ofschool places within Stoke Mandeville to accommodate children living in the Parish since theadequate provision of school places for local Stoke Mandeville children fosters a ‘Sense ofCommunity.’People find that although it is quite easy to book an appointment with a doctor, the difficulties arewith long waiting times for appointments with already overstretched/ overburdened surgeries.Information TechnologyBroadbandDespite there being adequate access to broadband providers many indicated problems with thespeed of their broadband connection. These included slow web page loading times and inconsistentinternet performance dependent on the time of the day.Business DevelopmentIn terms of new business development in Stoke Mandeville, people think that pubs, cafes andrestaurants should be encouraged as well as retail (shops), agriculture/food production and servicetrades e.g. plumbers and electricians.Page 14 of 50

Our Vision1In drafting a Neighbourhood Plan, a key principle is that the conclusions drawn fromevidence papers and detailed in policy papers should have solid foundations. It should bedemonstrable that the Neighbourhood Plan reflects the views of the residents of the parish and thatthey have been properly and adequately consulted throughout the drafting process.2.This evidence paper on vision methodology describes that consultation process in brief.3.The conclusion which should be drawn from it is that those drafting the NeighbourhoodPlan have very carefully gathered the views of residents and reflected those in the evidence papersand the policy papers derived.4.Work on the Neighbourhood Plan began in 2015/16, with the engagement of externalconsultants Shaping Communities Ltd, who produced a ‘Consultation and Engagement StrategyReport’ for the steering group. This report set out guiding principles for the interaction withresidents and was used in the early part of the project.5.A questionnaire, highlighted by accompanying publicity in the local press, was issued toresidents in March 2017. This garnered a good response rate and was used as the basis for the topicschosen in later consultation events.6.To gain a range of views which might not otherwise have been ca

Stoke Mandeville Neighbourhood Plan Dear Resident Thanks for your interest in this important document - the Stoke Mandeville Neighbourhood Plan. This is the first publicly circulated version of the Plan (issued as part of what is formally referred to as the Section 14 consultation) and your first opportunity to comment on it.