Item.
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Description. |
Presenter. |
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Introduction. |
CS |
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We are about half way through the process of carrying out this Town Plan. Some of the Working Groups have completed their Healthcheck worksheets and the others are progressing well. We hope to have completed our Market Town Healthcheck and publish it in the summer.
It was however noted that the Tourism Group is in need of new members to carry forward the work, and in the Social & Community Group the following areas are in need of volunteers:
Sport, Leisure & Open Spaces
Culture & Heritage
Education & Adult Learning |
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Results of Surveys. |
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2.1 |
Business Survey.
The Business Survey received an excellent response from about 100 businesses located in the RG17 0 region, this is about one third of the total number of businesses.
Four perceived benefits dominated the survey responses:
- A good customer base
- Character and atmosphere of the town
- Hungerford’s location
- Good Transport links
The emerging retail vision seems to lead towards Hungerford being a premium shopping destination with a good contrast of specialist shops which attract customers from neighbouring areas. Improved hotel, restaurant and bistro venues and a revitalised farmers market.
The general view expressed by retail businesses is to invest some time and money into promoting Hungerford and its many assets. Efforts should not only be to attract more visitors, but also more local people onto the High Street to shop.
Traffic and parking problems were often mentioned, as was the difficulty in finding affordable premises. |
DC |
2.2 |
Residential Survey.
A simple survey from with 3 questions was delivered to every household in Hungerford with the help of CHAIN volunteers. Forms were also available in many of the businesses and public amenities around town. We have had a good level of response from this survey and a wide cross-section of ages has completed the forms.
Many of the comments are similar to those from the Business Survey. Popular areas for discussion are
- Character and atmosphere of the town
- Open Space and Countryside around us
- Transport and parking issues
- Getting the right retail balance
You can see the results of this survey on the Town website. |
CD |
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General Discussion of Findings. |
All |
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The processes involved in writing this plan aim to support community-based decision-making. There is now increasing support from central government down through to our local council for projects such as this, and by completing our market town Healthcheck we will become eligible for funding to help implement some of our ideas. By pulling together and gathering a general consensus from the whole community we should be able develop a clear vision for the future of Hungerford. This will then enable us to drive forward improvements.
We might not be able to prevent change, but can plan for the future. |
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Parking. |
CD,RH,All |
4.1 |
Church Street .
Proposals to build a multi-storey car park on the current Church Street car park have been given some support. It is thought that we need to make the best use of land in the centre of town and that it could be vital to the future of the town. |
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4.2 |
Station Road Car Park.
This car park is under used. Improved signs could help encourage shoppers to use it. Ensuring that High Street businesses are aware that permits are available could help to free up spaces on the High Street for short stay visitors. |
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4.3 |
Bridge Street.
There is much concern over the existing parking spaces between The Bear and the John O’Gaunt, and the effect this has on traffic flow. To remove these spaces however might have a negative effect on the shops.
Proposals:
Moving the War Memorial to the Croft and creating a small car park for customers. Some are in favour of this as arguably it may not be an ideal location for the Memorial. Access to and from the car park might be an issue.
Another solution could be to keep the parking spaces and widen the road by cutting into the memorial area. |
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Canal Bridge .
Many are concerned for the safety of pedestrians crossing the canal bridge due to the volume of traffic and the heavy goods vehicles that use this route.
Proposals:
It seems that putting traffic lights up to reduce the traffic to a single lane over the bridge is not a viable option.
Removing the footpath from one side and widening it on the other would not work either, as the uneven weight distribution would cause problems.
West Berkshire Council is conducting a freight study at the moment and has been asked to look carefully at the traffic passing over the bridge to see if the A338 is being used as a trunk road. Since the construction of the A34 HGVs should be using this road when possible.
The other possibility would be to build a new footbridge over the canal, either at the height of the road, or a swing bridge down at the level of the canal. |
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Eddington. |
All |
6.1 |
Links with Hungerford.
Need to improve links between Eddington and the Town Centre. New footpaths and possibly a cycle route. |
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6.2 |
A4 By-pass.
Concern over the effect of bypassing the A4 down Charnham Way on Eddington in terms of noise pollution and with access to the town. The latter could be affected by an increase in traffic volume resulting from a slicker route, or faster traffic making it more difficult and dangerous to cross the road. |
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Transport. |
CD, RH,All |
7.1 |
A4 By-pass.
As mentioned above, there is a proposal to divert the A4 down Charnham Way . This would reduce congestion at The Bear by removing the through traffic.
It might also free up space to build a coach park and turning point in Charnham Street . |
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7.2 |
A338 By-pass.
Finding a route to by-pass the A338 however would be a multi-million pound task and the only way to support it financially would be the development of new houses. In effect whilst this may lower the number of HVGs driving through the town it would increase the volume of local traffic.
The environmental impact on the Marsh would be great and in actual fact the volume of traffic along this route is relatively low.
If anyone is aware of any previous studies/planning/suggestions related to these issues it would be useful for Hungerford 2010+ to read them. |
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8. |
Housing. |
CS,All |
8.1 |
New Developments.
There is currently no land set aside for new developments on the outside of the Town that have not already been built.
Overall consensus is against new housing developments, however those that do go ahead should be affordable and have priority given to local residents.
Hungerford has not (yet) been set a quota for new housing developments. The recent report from John Prescot suggests that a significantly higher number of housing allocations will go along the M4 Western Corridor. We are still awaiting new information.
If we have no choice but to build new houses in the area then at least we should decide where they should be built. There is concern over ‘ribbon developments’ which could in effect lead to us connecting with neighbouring villages.
Future houses should therefore fill in gaps around the outskirts in a radial pattern rather than spreading down the main transport links such as the A4. |
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8.2 |
Priory Road Flats.
Opposition for the development of 9 flats on Priory Road is largely based on issues related to parking. The local residents would like the car parking spaces to be at the rear of the new development rather than in front of the property. |
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8.3 |
In-filling.
Concerns with in-fill housing and the effect that this has on transport links and parking spaces.
Any in-fill housing will be counted in our quota and so can help us meet targets that are set without developing on green field sites.
The Government has actually changed the parking allocation rules from a minimum to a maximum number of spaces.
There appears to be inconsistency in West Berkshire Council and the amount of parking that has to be allocated to new developments. The proposed flats on Priory Road have too many car spaces while the recently built houses along the canal have none!
One thing we can all agree on is that there is a high car dependency and in reality most house have two if not three cars. This inevitably leads to problems with parking and congestion on the roads. |
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8.4 |
Sovereign Housing.
Fairfields and Northview are not suitable locations for elderly people due to the steep slopes. These buildings need to be upgraded or the residents relocated. The residents do not however want to be moved out of Hungerford.
There are suggestions of redeveloping the garage blocks that are owned by Sovereign. It seems that a significant number are not used to store vehicles in any case. |
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