COOPERATION BETTER THAN CONFLICT IN COMMUNITY LAND DEVELOPMENTS

WHY DO SOME DEVELOPERS NOT WISH TO COOPERATE WITH THE COMMUNITY?

A strong community group in Hazlemere and Holmer Green in Bucks is trying to buy land back so that a development that works for the community can be created - why are the sellers so against this?

After an appearance on ITV yesterday the land owners hit out with a letter which shall we say is a bit negative!

We have replied.

Time to build bridges not barriers... time to construct with the community rather than against it....

To make it easier for everyone to read our letter to Hawridge Land I paste the text of our letter directly into this article below:

To: Hawridge Land

St Marys Court

The Broadway

Amersham

HP7 0UT

15 February

Dear Sir

I was deeply saddened at the tone of the letter issued on 14th February in reaction to the report of ITV London News regarding the sale of Tralee Farm in Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire. Regrettably, much of what was said in your letter was unhelpful and much of it was simply wrong. Please may I suggest you might consider withdrawing this unhelpful and often incorrect statement.

You said that the “so-called community bid” made by the local community is “a baseless attempt to derail progress”. You say we are pursuing “unrealistic and obstructive tactics in a fruitless attempt to block a much-needed development”.

This could not be further from the truth!

We have put in a community bid which, at the level of ￡8.4 million, we believe will be very competitive. We hope you will regard our money as just as good as anyone else’s.

You also mention that the development as proposed is “much needed” and a “vital project” which provides “a critical contribution at a time of severe housing shortages”.

We agree with you.

We also see an even bigger opportunity! We see a chance to vastly improve the planned development to make it much better for the community from which it is birthed.

We ask you to bury the hatchet and cooperate with us to make this vision a reality.

The current plan proposes 55 of the 87 homes will be of a bigger size, 3 and 4 bed properties, but that is not what the community wants or needs. The local community through consultation on the Hazlemere Neighbourhood Plan very clearly stated it wanted homes for first time buyers and downsizers. We want our community to continue growing as a ‘community’. We want our sons and daughters to be able to buy small homes near, us, their parents allowing us to support each other, allowing grandparents to easily participate in nurturing their wider families and allowing us all to enjoy our beautiful countryside together.

We want older people to be able to downsize from their 3 and 4 bed semis and still stay in the local area surrounded by the community they have loved all their lives. We don’t want them banished to other parts of the country cut off from their lifelong friends and family.

Local people in Hazlemere and Holmer Green highly value their green open spaces. Again, the Neighbourhood Plan, voted in overwhelmingly by 86% of the community, sought to protect more of our green and open spaces and natural features. Specifically, the plan sought to protect the orchard which is part of your site but before this protection could come into effect the orchard was cynically and brutally bulldozed by contractors who stated they were acting on behalf of your predecessor Inland Homes.

Our community group has a vision of a beautiful integrated site protecting and enhancing more of the green space and building environmentally friendly homes of the size and type the community wants. When we win this bid and buy the land the first thing, we will do is call a community meeting for all members of the community to come together and express their views on how this development should go forward for the benefit of everyone who is a vital member of our community. We are realistic that our partners on this develop who are providing much of the capital will need to see a return on their investment and will therefore be influential in the plan we take forward.

May we put your mind at rest that the financial backing for our bid does not come only from the GoFundMe page which we set up for donations. You will be aware that we have also been seeking pledges of larger amounts of money and commitments from people wishing to buy a plot or a finished eco home. It will be of no surprise to you that we have also been in direct discussions with third parties to join and support us in our bid. As stated in our offer letter we would aim to pay over the funds 4 weeks after acceptance of our bid.

As you know we have requested Bucks Council to place the land on the register of Assets of Community Value as provided for under the Localism Act 2011. We would expect this to be confirmed in the coming weeks. This was done in order to allow us the time to work with you on a deal which would be both beneficial to you as the seller and to the local community.

I would like to personally request we now concentrate on building bridges not barriers.

Please can we move away from the antagonistic mudslinging which helps no one. Let’s find a positive way forward for the local community and yourselves so that we can deliver this vital project in a way that works for everyone.

We very much look forward to positively moving this forward.

Kind regards

Ed Gemmell, for and on behalf of the Tralee Farm Community Group, representing an interested group of residents of Hazlemere and Holmer Green