DESIGN GUIDE
The original design guides for the Great Denham Development are available here:
| Thumb | Name | Size |
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Gt-Denham-District-Centre-Master-Plan-Jan-2010-f.pdf
no/mimeGt-Denham-District-Centre-Master-Plan-Jan-2010-f.pdf Open Download Copy Link 2.34 MB 2020-07-22 22nd July 2020 2020-07-22 22nd July 2020 |
2.34 MB |
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Great-Denham-Design-Guide-and-Code-Part-3-June-09.pdf
no/mimeGreat-Denham-Design-Guide-and-Code-Part-3-June-09.pdf Open Download Copy Link 5.33 MB 2020-07-22 22nd July 2020 2020-07-22 22nd July 2020 |
5.33 MB |
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Great-Denham-Design-Guide-and-Code-Part-1-and-2-June-09.pdf
no/mimeGreat-Denham-Design-Guide-and-Code-Part-1-and-2-June-09.pdf Open Download Copy Link 6.97 MB 2020-07-22 22nd July 2020 2020-07-22 22nd July 2020 |
6.97 MB |
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The Guides differ from what has actually been provided due to modifications to the S106 Agreement (see below).
PROVISION OF FACILITIES IN GREAT DENHAM
The provision of certain facilities in Great Denham (such as the Community Hall and the shops) is governed by something called a Section 106 Agreement which also set a trigger point by which time each facility should be delivered.
The S106 Agreement for Great Denham is known as the “S106 Legal Agreement for Biddenham Loop and Land West of Kempston”. If you wish to see the original documents please copy and paste this link into your browser and it will take you to the relevant page of Bedford Borough Council’s website.
https://www.bedford.gov.uk/planning-and-building/contact-planning/planning-obligations/
The Parish Council has endeavoured to ensure the developers (David Wilson Homes) and Bedford Borough Council provide facilities as promised and in the best interests of parishioners, rather than the economic expedience of the developers. However, due to a change in government legislation in 2012 the developers were able to carry out a viability exercise, as a result of which many of the promised facilities were removed from the Agreement.
Revised S106
During negotiations between the Borough and David Wilson Homes, the Parish Council fought hard to preserve as much as possible for our community. Unfortunately, a number of things, chief amongst them the library, an ecumenical centre, public art and the Park & Ride were no longer to be provided.
In order to try and mitigate the losses we argued that the Community Hall should be a two storey, rather than a single storey, building and were pleased when this was agreed. However, it became clear that the developers were making savings by reducing the fittings and finishes to the Hall. Following much pressure from the Parish Council some fittings and finishes were reinstated but it was left to us to ensure the building was what the community deserved and we utilised some of the Commuted Sum to equip it.
Great Denham is a great place to live. We have a Country Park which is developing well with sports facilities which will soon be available to use and a Pavilion with changing facilities and a cafe will be provided in due course. Now that we have the School, a Community Hall and some shops it has become a real community which will continue to thrive for years to come.
Commuted Sum
The Parish was given some £95,000 by Bovis, the builder of the original 249 houses in Great Denham, as payment in lieu of building a temporary community hall with which the residents of those houses should have been provided. This sum had to be spent by November 2016 or any unspent balance returns to Bovis and we are pleased to report that the money was indeed spent in time. The money had to be used for capital expenditure or costs directly related to such expenditure and not to subsidise the precept. When the money was received it had been receiving interest for some time and over the years the Parish Council ensured its continued growth by carefully investing the money where the interest rates were highest.
As the Commuted Sum was originally given to the community in lieu of a temporary community centre, it seemed appropriate that a large proportion of it should be spent on the Community Hall. As anyone who has visited the Hall will know, we now have an amazing state of the art facility in the heart of our community and many of the facilities have been purchased using the Commuted Sum. What may not be known is that as a result of a viability exercise by the developer many of the fittings and finishes in the Hall were reduced and the Parish Council used not only the Commuted Sum but also some money in its reserves to ensure these were not lost to us. We now have a building which we can justly be proud of and which will be a focal point of our community for many years to come.
Other major purchases which the money has been used for are as follows:-
1. Provide and maintain a community tree for roundabout in Kingswood Way – £5000
2. Landscape roundabout in Kingswood Way as an entrance feature for Great Denham £21,000.
3. Purchase Great Denham ‘village’ name road signs – £3,000
4. Stone entrance feature on Great Denham roundabout – £6,500
In addition, the Parish Council has used the Commuted Sum to purchase and install three bench seats along the riverside walk, two bench seats in the wetland area of the Country Park and two notice boards were installed in Greenkeepers Road.