The Hesters Way Forum is gathering information to finalise the Neighbourhood Development Plan for Hesters Way and if you live, work or study locally, we would really appreciate your help in completing the attached questionnaire.
There are a lot of questions but we’ve made answering then easy so it should only take about 10 minutes to complete. Thanks in advance for your support
As most people will now be aware the Golden Valley Development will bring some very significant changes to west Cheltenham over the coming years. The Forum is aware of how important these changes could be and is especially interested to hear the views and concerns of residents living close to the site.
As a result members of the Hesters Way Forum steering group devised a questionnaire and have been out and about asking questions about the land next to the existing housing along Fiddlers Green Lane and the potential new roads accessing the site.
The questionnaire was completed by 80 residents living adjacent to the site. As you can see from the results displayed here there is a desire to see green and accessible spaces near to the boundary of the new development.
Most people wanted to keep the hedgerow and to retain the existing trees whilst developing a parkland space including more trees, shrubs and wildflowers.
It seems clear from the survey that the new development should, be linked to the existing residential area by natural means as housing and other developments in the area are very unpopular.
There is also an appetite for natural play areas and seating, all connected by a network of walking and cycling routes. Some public art, a café and leisure facilities were desired in this space but the details of these has been left for a further survey of the whole area coming up soon.
As far as access is concerned there is no clear cut choice. Some people prefer the idea of a roundabout where Fiddlers Green Road meets Telstar Way (the likely main access point to the development) Some however, prefer a junction at that point with no clear winner from traffic lights, giving priority to Telstar traffic or of restricted access to Fiddlers Green Road. This is clearly an area for future discussion before the development comes to the planning stage.
The Hesters Way Forum is keen to have further discussion with the Borough Council, Henry Boot (www.henryboot.com ) and Factory who have formed a joint venture to take the project forward.. As far as we know there is to be an announcement made in the very near future regarding the next stages of the development.
If you would like to learn more about the Hesters Way Forum or to receive information about the Neighbourhood Development Plan for Hesters Way the group would be keen to hear from you. For more information please visit;
www.hesterswayforum.co.uk or info@hesterswayforum.co.uk
HW Forum has teamed up with Hesters Way Partnership, CPRE Gloucestershire, Cotswolds and Vale Ash Dieback Forum and Cheltenham Borough Council to plant 250 trees in Fiddlers Green Park to replace ash trees lost or likely to be lost to ash dieback.
Funding for this project is from the CPRE, public donations to the Ash Fund, the Cotswolds Conservation Board Hesters Way Partnership and Cheltenham Borough Council.
A group of volunteers planted the first 180 trees on November 20th but there are still 70 to plant to finish the job!
If you’d like to volunteer to plant the trees as part of the improvements suggested by local people take a look at the poster below. We’ll need about 10 volunteers to get this done in time!!
Significant development proposals will have a huge impact on the future of West Cheltenham! The Neighbourhood Plan produced by the community for the community, will help make those proposals work for you.
The development of the Cyber Hub also known as the Golden Valley Project will bring considerable change to many West Cheltenham residents. Plans are being made to build a new estate to the west of Fiddlers Green and Springbank which will include office space for the cyber industries like Microsoft and over 1000 houses for families and local people. The details of these plans are yet to be revealed but the outline proposal has been approved by the Borough Council.
However, thanks to the Hesters Way Forum (HWF), we have a great chance to make those plans work for the community!
The HWF has been busy finding out what would make the area better and what projects should be included in the ward so that local people feel the benefit. We have put together a set of proposals under headings which people have said matter most to them.
The Forum conducted an online survey via Survey Monkey to find out what people think of the parks in West Cheltenham, how often they visit and what could be done to make them better.
There was a great response to the surveys which were conducted by adults via social media links and by pupils from All Saints Academy and Pates. The Forum steering group would like to thank everyone for taking the time to complete the surveys. The information gathered will help shape the proposals included in the Neighbourhood Plan.
We have had the results translated into samples by a graphic designer. Here’s what the Fiddlers Green Park and Destination Park ( a park good enough to attract people from further away) might look like;
We have summarised the results in the graphs and tables below
As you will probably know the M5 Junction 10 is due for an upgrade to provide four way access. If you are technically minded you may be interested to read the basis for the project and likely outcomes.
We’re gathering information to help improve our local parks and to present ideas for the green landscape developments in the new Cyber Hub and Garden Village project west of Springbank and Fiddlers Green.
Ideas will be incorporated into the Hesters Way Neighbourhood Plan
Please complete this quick survey (2 minutes) to give us your opinion.
Gloucestershire County Council is currently consulting on an improvement scheme around M5 Junction 10. The scheme aims to support an increase in local housing supply and economic growth by removing constraints on the highway network and providing an integrated package of transport infrastructure. The scheme elements include an ‘all movements’ junction at M5 Junction 10, complemented by a new link road to the west of Cheltenham, and improvements along the A4019 and at Coombe Hill junction.
Consultation to identify the best location for the upgraded motorway junction will be open for 6 weeks from 00:01 on 14 October until 23:59 on 25 November 2020.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in line with social distancing guidelines, all consultation information will be made available online: www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/J10.