Our major recommendations
The Pound and Poundfield
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In the last Village Plan, it was considered that the congestion and safety problems in The Pound should be addressed as a top priority. The heavy traffic at peak times, and the narrow road and pavement through The Pound daily continue to present significant hazards to pedestrians and considerable inconvenience both to traffic and to the households on its frontage. In the last thirty-five years, through traffic has increased considerably, buses now use the road and it continues to be particularly dangerous and unpleasant for cyclists and pedestrians, especially those with pushchairs. There is an increasing problem associated with the delivery and collection of pupils to and from the adjoining Nursery School. We believe that the resolution of these problems is of paramount importance.
In an attempt to alleviate problems, speed humps and a 20 m.p.h. limit have been introduced. Although we believe that the accident/injury rate is low, there is evidence of regular damage to the walls and kerbs along its route. We find it difficult to identify any further measures to increase safety.
We have considered many suggestions to address these problems, including the proposal in the last Village Plan for the early construction of a Southern By-pass from Sutton Road to Maidenhead Road. Today we do not support the construction of such a By-pass, because of flood plain issues and because it seems likely to us that it would merely generate extra through traffic over our already-congested roads and river bridge.
The Steering Committee has inspected the area and is very well aware of its history, the previous controversy over a proposed large scale development on Poundfield, and particularly the concern of those who live close by. This site has been in part grazed and in part neglected since a planning application was refused. An appeal to designate the land as Green Belt was rejected in the High Court in 2001. There can be no painless solution to the issues we have had to address, and we have only one option to propose to resolve the various problems which confront us.
We are conscious of the fact that Poundfield is one of the very few pieces of land within the existing developed areas of the Village which is not in the Green Belt. Elsewhere in this Plan we have raised the issue of our rapidly ageing population and the potential shortage of sheltered housing for the elderly. Likewise we are concerned by the lack of affordable housing for key workers. The only other site which has been identified for such use is the old Gasholder site. Poundfield is very close to many facilities and it seems to us to be particularly suitable for these purposes.
Accordingly, we recommend as a first priority that the Local Authority, respecting the local Conservation Area, should carry out a full feasibility study on the following proposals, each of which we regard as being of equal importance:
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The construction of a new road, avoiding existing houses, from the roundabout at the junction of Maidenhead Road and The Pound across the (so-called) Pony Field and Poundfield to Terry’s Lane. We propose that there should be a clockwise one-way gyratory system for traffic (with the Pound one way in a westerly direction) which would enable the widening of the pavement;
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The inclusion of parking and pick-up/drop off facilities for the nursery school;
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3. The inclusion of a limited development of sheltered and affordable housing with appropriate parking and open space;
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4. The proposed cycleway from Bourne End to Maidenhead (included under Tourism, Footpaths and Cycleways) which might involve Poundfield Lane;
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5. The consideration of the financial implications of our proposals, given their scale and that the sites are privately-owned.
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We believe that these proposals, which should allow for a considerable area of open space, strike the right balance between the needs of the community and conservation.
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Given the long term scale of these proposals, later in this report we recommend that, at least as an interim measure, a weight limit of 7.5 tonnes should be applied to vehicles from Sutton Road to the west end of The Pound (see Traffic, Public Transport and Roads).