Fundraising for the next stage of the proposal to revitalise Prestwood by creating a “centre” based at Chequers Corner on the A4128 can be supported by signing up to the Great Missenden Parish Revitalisation Group page on the Buckinghamshire lottery. For more information, go to Buckinghamshire Lottery.
In March 2016, GMPRG subgroup Prestwood Revitalisation Group held a community meeting at Prestwood Village Hall where Ben Hamilton-Baillie presented his proposals for a ‘place making’ scheme at the corner of the A4128 at the junction of Wycombe Road, Honor End Lane, Chequers Lane and the High Street.
View the project brief and report:
Brief for a Project to Create an Improved Village Centre for Prestwood, as a Focal Point for the Community with Improved Road Safety.
Prestwood, Buckinghamshire: Promoting vitality and safety through place-making and lower speeds
The need for this project came out of the previous Community Vision where local people had responded
Prestwood is a significant centre of population – amongst the largest villages in the UK – but lacks a real centre for community focus.”
The purpose of the exercise is to revitalise the shopping area of the village to create a focal point and help bring cohesion to the community.
Following the presentation, the proposals were the subject of a consultation, which resulted in 177 responses from local people; of these 143 were positive, 12 undecided and 22 against the scheme.
There were many encouraging comments including:
a real need for some TLC to improve the village centre – in particular, the area between the Chequers Tree and Village Hall which is crying out for an up-to-date quality image to give definition to what is the heart of the village.
Would make a huge difference to the economic prosperity of the businesses in the village and the enjoyment of the village for its residents going forward.
The project has gained support of local Councillors; the BCC Councillor Mark Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Transportation and the GMPRG project team for this are in discussion with Bucks County Council about the next stages.
The benefits of public realm improvements such as this are outlined in the DCLG document ‘Re-imagining urban spaces to help revitalise our high streets’ which can be viewed at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/5987/2185491.pdf
Further links: Report on Hamilton-Baillie Associates website