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and house values in Chalfont St Peter

Printed From: Chalfont St Peter
Category: Chalfont St Peter
Forum Name: Holy Cross Development
Forum Description: All posts about the developemnt of the Holy Cross site
URL: https://www.chalfontstpeter.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7411
Printed Date: 28 March 2024 at 12:27pm
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Topic: and house values in Chalfont St Peter
Posted By: Number42
Subject: and house values in Chalfont St Peter
Date Posted: 22 July 2013 at 12:05pm
There's a leaflet being delivered to every household about the appeal and a public meeting on 29th July. 8pm at the Community Centre.

Am I alone in thinking that house values in the village will fall if, at one stroke, we build 200+ new houses at high density, out of keeping with the existing styles, making the existing over-crowded school even more over-crowded?

As compared with the alternative plan to move the school to Holy Cross and gain some great new facilities for the school and for the community in general - as well as (far fewer)new houses.

I realise this has been debated at some length for some time, but it is now coming down to that choice - IF we have a choice at all!

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That's the answer - what's the question?



Replies:
Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 22 July 2013 at 12:28pm
With regards the school - Robertswood I believe still has plenty of space left in it - a lot of the pupils come from outside CSP and is a good school. I only mention this as you say the academy is over crowded - cut the capacity and move some to Robertswood?

House prices won't fall in this area if you build another 1,000 houses. Besides it would be handy to have some younger people who can afford houses in the village - give life back to our pubs, social clubs, leisure pastimes and community.

Out of interest, does anyone know how much the legal bill and alternative options cost is so far?
Dreamland if you think developers will give up their houses for alternative less profitable options now the courts have given these verdicts.


Posted By: Malc London
Date Posted: 22 July 2013 at 1:10pm
One problem is that if you build 200 houses, you need to allow parking for 500 cars at least, and I bet that's not in the plans.
 
High Density building also causes friction, so you can expect a lot more anti-social behaviour.
 
People wonder how 1968/69 was allowed to happen in the village and the construction of that eyesore called the Precinct. People will be asking the same thing over this development in years to come.
 
It's profit at all costs, and to hell with the community that's left picking up the pieces.
 
Not sure why Watsy thinks the buyers will be younger people. I suspect many will be established families moving in from other areas, probably renting from housing associations who will snap up the development. UNLESS, Chiltern do what Hillingdon did recently, and say that you had to be a resident in the borough for 10 years and a first time buyer in order to buy the property. But I can't see the developers agreeing to that, especially since they already have the green light from Chiltern District Council.
 
 
 


Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 22 July 2013 at 1:18pm
I really don't know although I suspect that house prices won't be drastically affected after a conversation I had last year with a local estate agent who feels that due to the size/character of the houses to be built they will have limited impact on the current, established housing stock and that the village is so sought after they feel that prices won't drop sharply. We shall see! I can't pretend that it doesn't worry me having bought just before the house market crashed!!

Robertswood, I'm not sure. I went to look around it this year while making choices for my daughter and it felt like it was bursting at the seams too, although not to quite the same extent as the academy. Two 'classrooms' were actually marquees. I do think despite this both the village schools are excellent and it's a credit to the staff that they can operate in such tough conditions. Generally I think additional schooling would be a great benefit and if all these new houses are built a definite requirement.

Overall I favour the second proposal but I too think we are loosing the battle. Still am happy to pay into the pot and carry on, as they say, it's not over until!!!!


Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 22 July 2013 at 1:31pm
Malc, I didn't say that buyers will be younger - I said it would be handy to have more in the village. Even at 'affordable' prices they are way out of reach of most people in their 20's.
Robertswood's catchment is way outside this village - Denham, Maple Cross etc so reducing their catchment will increase capacity in the village.


Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 22 July 2013 at 1:47pm
Yes true enough, it is a big catchment. I suppose there could be a problem as to which school children from the current catchment would attend maybe? I don't really know as I wasn't brought up in the village so not entirely sure of what is available further afield.


Posted By: Number42
Date Posted: 23 July 2013 at 8:56am
Hopefully those questions and many others will be asked/answered at the meeting next Monday.

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That's the answer - what's the question?


Posted By: big baggles
Date Posted: 01 August 2013 at 10:51am
well what was the outcome from monday's meeting?- my wife went as i was working away from CSP, she said there was a good turn out but she also made the observation  that there was very few people representing the younger generation attending...?
 
so what were the key points that came from mondays meeting ?


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need a stella and i need one now !


Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 01 August 2013 at 11:48am
Probably the issue for the younger ones (ish!!) is child care and work, I couldn't get there as my husband didn't get back from work till gone 9 and I couldn't get a sitter. Most of my friends rarely see their husbands before 8 on a work night sadly. What did happen at the meeting?


Posted By: Nessun Dorma
Date Posted: 03 August 2013 at 12:43pm
Originally posted by Number42 Number42 wrote:

There's a leaflet being delivered to every household about the appeal and a public meeting on 29th July. 8pm at the Community Centre.

Am I alone in thinking that house values in the village will fall if, at one stroke, we build 200+ new houses at high density, out of keeping with the existing styles, making the existing over-crowded school even more over-crowded?

As compared with the alternative plan to move the school to Holy Cross and gain some great new facilities for the school and for the community in general - as well as (far fewer)new houses.

I realise this has been debated at some length for some time, but it is now coming down to that choice - IF we have a choice at all!
Sounds like an excellent idea to me. Then at least my children will have, at least, a fighting chance of having somewhere to live.


Posted By: Nessun Dorma
Date Posted: 03 August 2013 at 12:46pm
Originally posted by Malc London Malc London wrote:

One problem is that if you build 200 houses, you need to allow parking for 500 cars at least, and I bet that's not in the plans.
 
High Density building also causes friction, so you can expect a lot more anti-social behaviour.
 
People wonder how 1968/69 was allowed to happen in the village and the construction of that eyesore called the Precinct. People will be asking the same thing over this development in years to come.
 
It's profit at all costs, and to hell with the community that's left picking up the pieces.
 
Not sure why Watsy thinks the buyers will be younger people. I suspect many will be established families moving in from other areas, probably renting from housing associations who will snap up the development. UNLESS, Chiltern do what Hillingdon did recently, and say that you had to be a resident in the borough for 10 years and a first time buyer in order to buy the property. But I can't see the developers agreeing to that, especially since they already have the green light from Chiltern District Council.
 
 
 
 
Again, I can't see what is wrong with that. We need a lot more social housing in the area. Far too much of it was sold off during the eighties and nineties, which means that the younger generations have to leave the village.


Posted By: oldchris
Date Posted: 03 August 2013 at 2:19pm
It should be social housing, with priority given to local people with proven local ties, and when i mean local, i mean not importing people over from slough.


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stop HS2.


Posted By: ladycakes
Date Posted: 06 August 2013 at 12:33pm
Originally posted by Bobblehead Bobblehead wrote:



Robertswood, I'm not sure. I went to look around it this year while making choices for my daughter and it felt like it was bursting at the seams too, although not to quite the same extent as the academy. Two 'classrooms' were actually marquees. I do think despite this both the village schools are excellent and it's a credit to the staff that they can operate in such tough conditions.

Please get your facts straight - two 'classrooms' at Robertswood are not marquees. Every class has a full classroom.  There are two gazebo-type/marquee structures in an outdoor 'shared area' which are used as *additional* teaching space to the existing classrooms - to allow teaching assistants to take out small groups of children for small group work - a real bonus. They are using an uncovered area and by putting up these structures they are simply extending their use to all weathers.

When you looked round you will have also noticed that between every set of four classrooms is also a large, fully resourced, indoor shared teaching area - meaning that at all points during the day small group work with targeted groups of children is possible - everything from additional reading with parent volunteers to specific ability-level subject teaching. 

When we moved to Robertswood from my children's previous London school we were amazed at how much more space they have. And that's before I even mention the playgrounds and enormous field.


Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 06 August 2013 at 1:06pm
Sorry Ladycakes didn't mean to offend. As I said in my post I think both schools are excellent. However we are saying the same thing, I didn't say that there was a class without a traditional classroom, just that two classrooms or if you prefer, two teaching areas, are outside in marquees, the shared fully resourced additional teaching area's are great too but also part of the corridor/gaps between the classrooms. In an ideal world neither of these facilities would be in 'temporary' structures/areas. The Academy is busting at the seams too, I'm really not comparing one school unfavourably with another, I think they are both excellent but neither can cope with an influx of hundreds of new kids, potentially, which was the meaning of my comment. I agree the schools have many fantastic benefits and are run by dedicated and caring staff and we are very lucky to have them.


Posted By: Nessun Dorma
Date Posted: 08 August 2013 at 10:06am
Robertswood has four hundred and twenty pupils, there are two classes per year group, which means, if you take out the thirty-plus nursery places, that makes an average of about twenty-seven pupils per class, hardly bursting at the seams. Then you also have to include Saint Joseph's and Gerrards Cross CofE. Also, don't forget, some of the new residents will be taking advantage of all of the private schools in the area. Saint Joseph's has three hundred and ffity eight, take out the twenty pre-school places and you are left with an average of about twenty-six per calss. So, our schools are hardly "bursting the seams."
 

Although I am not sure about the numbers at Gerrards Cross, I am led to believe that they are struggling to compete with all the private prep-schools in the area and are under threat, with falling intake.



Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 08 August 2013 at 2:49pm
Well there are some spaces left at Robertswood and St Josephs for reception, the others inc. CSP Infants and CofE Gerrards Cross are over subscribed and have waiting lists (I know people on the waiting lists). The CofE Gerrards Cross has a waiting list every year. The max class size is 30 (I believe they can go up to 34 under certain circumstances legally) certainly for the first 3 years, so even if we take your rough estimates of class sizes of 27 doesn't leave a huge number of spaces in the village and certainly not enough for 200 houses with the current catchments, as someones else has said maybe they could be re-drawn. I'm really not anti the area being developed but I just want us all to have suitable local services, old residents and new!


Posted By: Nessun Dorma
Date Posted: 08 August 2013 at 3:31pm
I know for a fact that Gerrards Cross has fewer than four hundred pupils. Giving us an average of twenty-eight per class (capacity for key stage two being thirty-two). So, no there is not a waiting list, as such. Their admissions criteria means that they can hold back places, waiting for children who fit the desired profile of their admittance. If no one fits that desired profile, they open the admittance to the next step down. So, for example, they will open the intake to the principle criteria to seventy per cent (I have no idea whether that is the actual percentage), if there are not enough of them applying, they will cast their net wider. But they will wait untilt the last minute to decide to open the intake to wider applications.


Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 08 August 2013 at 4:10pm
Well fingers crossed you're right. I'll let you know after 30th August when they'll find out.....


Posted By: Nessun Dorma
Date Posted: 08 August 2013 at 4:40pm
Well, I know, for last year's years two and three, they were so undersubscribed, they were panicking about their future. Perhaps, as a result of this, they have relaxed their admission criteria to accept non-CofE children.
 
ETA:
 
I almost forgot about Chalfont Saint Giles Junior and Jordans Infant Schools (if I had, I would have been in serious trouble Wink). For the last few years, they have also been severely undersubscribed; the last three year sixes, at Saint Giles, have been an average of twenty-four pupils per class and Jordans, which has a capacity for eighty-four, struggles to get fifty-five (a really nice school and perfect for children who would struggle in a bigger placement).



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