Paul Basham Associates worked with the Buckinghamshire College Group to support their planning application for the redevelopment of two existing buildings to provide a new town centre college campus.
The Proposal
The proposal comprised the redevelopment of two existing buildings in High Wycombe town centre, to provide a new college campus which will see the Buckinghamshire College Group consolidate their existing three campus sites into one new town centre location. The larger of the two buildings will be located on the corner of Bridge Street/Oxford Road and will comprise a 6,800m2 building housing a variety of standard and specialist learning and teaching environments. The second building is located on Brook Street and will comprise a 1700m2 purpose built building providing vocational specialist teaching including Automotive Engineering and Construction.
Our Approach
The town centre location of the proposals, situated opposite the town bus station offered the perfect opportunity for sustainable travel and car-free travel. Therefore, a primarily car-free scheme was designed and tabled with Buckinghamshire Council as part of a pre-app highways discussion. This pre-app submission was well received by BCC and Paul Basham Associates subsequently produced a Transport Assessment and Travel Plan to support the planning application. These reports set out the proposals impact and addressed a number of elements including the site’s highly sustainable location, justified the car-free position of the proposals drawing on a range of sources, and set out the servicing and SEN drop-off arrangements supported by Swept Path Analysis. This submission was met without objection from the Highways Officer at Buckinghamshire Council.
The Outcome
In January 2023, planning permission was granted for the site following unanimous approval at the planning committee. Construction is expected to begin on site in 2025 following discharge of the remaining conditions.