Bricks and Mortar

Having completed the first couple of phases of St Giles’ restoration, it is time to focus on much needed work at St Andrew’s…

For quite some time, we’ve been living under a cloud – a mouldy cloud. The roof at St Andrew’s has been patched so many times, it is now more patch than roof and it still leaks! So, not wanting to miss an opportunity, the PCC have hatched a plan to not only replace the roof, but to support the future work and life of the church and meet a local need.

This takes the form of an outline application for an additional 4 two bedroomed first floor flats above St Andrew’s. We are asking if you could support this application by visiting the South Bucks District Council website, following the links below. Any comments need to be made by 24^th May 2018.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Register your details by starting here:   https://publicaccess.southbucks.gov.uk/online-applications/registrationWizard.do?action=start
2. You will then get an email to authenticate your email address (When I did this it took 10 minutes to get the email).
3. Click the link in the email to authenticate and then login.
4. Click on the “Search” tab, roll over “Planning” and click on “Simple Search”
5. Enter the keyword Andrews (as in St Andrews) in the keyword box and press the green Search button. The reference number for the application is 18/00679/OUT .
6. Click on the top application which reads “Outline application for : First floor extension to provide 4 x 2 bedroom flats”
7. The application summary will be displayed. Click on the comments tab at the top of the screen and it will ask you to login with your email and password that you authenticated above.
8. Towards the bottom of the screen please click “SUPPORT” and write your comments in the box provided and then click the green submit button.

Note that your comment may be made public but NOT your personal details. Also any comment only counts as one per household so multiple comments from the same address carries no weight.

Your comments might include :

1. The Local Church needs additional income and is currently spending a lot more than it receives which cannot be maintained in the medium term.
2. There is local pressure to build  additional housing in our area and this development has minimal adverse effect on our community as its largely hidden from residential view.
3. The flat roof on which the flats will be placed need replacing anyway as it leaks into areas used by the Community and this will resolve this problem and is a therefore a benefit to community users of St Andrews.

The current two flats have been continuously let since they were built in 2009, providing much needed income to the church and demonstrating that this type of accommodation is much sought after in the village, so the PCC hopes that the congregation will feel able to support this application.

If you wish to discuss this application further please contact Mark Wells via the Church Office.