Buckinghamshire Advantage, the delivery arm of Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (BTVLEP), recently submitted amendments to its outline planning application for the Aylesbury Woodlands site, which includes additional content to improve further the Aylesbury Woodlands offer to ensure it meets the needs of the local population, business, and the environment.

The submission on April 6th 2017 of the amended outline planning application - with a decision to be made in the summer - to Aylesbury Vale District Council follows an extensive programme of work, including community and stakeholder engagement.

Richard Harrington, Managing Director of Buckinghamshire Advantage, said: “The key driver for Aylesbury Woodlands is to plug gaps in infrastructure provision, to grow jobs, build communities and enhance access to open space and new community facilities. In this respect Aylesbury Woodlands is both highly complementary and distinct from previous Aylesbury major development areas. It would support the wider growth of this recently designated Garden Town.”

Richard added: “In addition, the design and delivery of the Eastern Link Road through the Woodlands scheme is a key element of the master plan. The road will improve north-south connection by providing the missing link between the A41 and the A418. It will also provide part of an orbital route to the east of Aylesbury Town Centre, which meets with Buckinghamshire County Council’s broader strategic highway aspirations for the town’s transport infrastructure.”

A 'green' infrastructure project

Aylesbury Woodlands is intended to be a high quality sustainable scheme designed to deliver green infrastructure - with 50% of the site green and open. It will offer mixed land use with the provision of commercial premises to facilitate employment growth, leisure opportunities to promote health and well-being, and housing, including ‘custom-build’ homes.                                              

The Aylesbury Woodlands site is bounded to the south by the A41. To the north is the Grand Union Canal; to the east is the Arla dairy. To the west is the existing urban edge of Aylesbury, including the residential area of Broughton. The site covers an area of approximately 200 hectares (500 acres).

The proposed commercial area – on the eastern part of the Aylesbury Woodlands site - was granted Enterprise Zone status in November 2015.  The ‘Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Zone’ will help unlock significant private and national investment - for further details please refer to the Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Zone website at www.aylesburyvaleez.co.uk. In addition, Aylesbury Woodlands will work in harmony with the ambitions of Aylesbury Garden Town, following the granting of this status earlier in the year.

BTVLEP working with partners for smooth delivery

In order to ensure the least amount of disruption and the smooth delivery of Aylesbury Woodlands, BTVLEP have been working closely with partner organisations, including local developers on sites such as Kingsbrook and Hampden Fields, to mitigate the impact these developments will have on the local environment.

Amendments to the Aylesbury Woodlands outline planning application include improvements to the Eastern Link Road infrastructure, flood mitigation work (following Environment Agency advice) and further landscaping works.

Masterplanners, ecology, landscape, heritage, drainage, transport, air quality and noise specialists have all contributed to the Aylesbury Woodlands scheme. For further details and latest updates please refer to the Aylesbury Woodlands website at www.aylesburywoodlands.co.uk.