Several community meetings have been held for the purposes of disseminating information, positive discussion and gathering opinions. A survey and a petition have also been circulated in order to establish a clear perspective on the feelings of local residents, individuals who are regularly in the local area, and some of the schools which would most directly feel the impact of any development. All of this has been undertaken because it is widely felt that when the community is informed, encouraged and included in planning matters, the end result of any planning processes and decisions is far more satisfactory and more likely to be harmoniously integrated into an existing community situation. We note the changes outlined in your letter of 20 July 1999, and in the supporting letter from Paul Dickinson dated 6 July 1999 which accompanies the amended plans available for public inspection at York House. As a local community group we welcome the removal of the proposed vehicular access from Bailey Close the initial reduction of the overall number of dwellings from 130 to 12 l changes in some details of the conversion plans for the listed building enabling more sympathetic refurbishment to take place provision on the site of a playing field for shared use by Windsor Girls' School (WGS) and Haileybury School, and much needed upgrading of other existing WGS sports facilities provision of a public children's equipped play area for under 12s a substantially improved road access point for the shared use of WGS and the residential development which includes safer provision for pedestrians crossing Imperial Road at that point. In light of serious and reasonable concerns still remaining , however, we would like to see additional changes in the proposals to include 1. A further reduction in the number of dwellings, showing an omission of 6 flats and 6 houses from the area immediately surrounding the mature, high amenity category trees in front of the listed wall, on the grounds of visual intrusion into the setting of a very important listed building incompatibility of the new domestic activity of the site with the tranquillity of the setting exceeding the area for development of 8 acres indicated in the Local Plan incompatibility of development on this scale in close proximity to very old trees of majestic size which are high water-seeking varieties with shallow, widely extending root systems traffic generation, on a site where most dwellings will be likely to have at least two cars associated with them. We would favour the retention of the natural boundaries of this area created by the currently used original carriageways, as they also constitute an important landscape feature in keeping with the Manor and forming an integral part of its setting. It seems possible to integrate these existing roadways into the new network serving the rest of the new development. Were this area to be developed, and the Hospice to be given permission to expand, a dense 'corridor' would fill what is now open space, with the subsequent and significant loss of the site's spatial and visual amenity. This would also place substantial pressure on the aforementioned mature trees, increasing the likelihood of their eventual deterioration and demise. We ask what geological surveys have been done on site, both in relation to the trees and to the amount of development-related disturbance to clay sub-soil conditions which include several underground streams. A number of properties in Hatch Lane and Bailey Close have had to be or are being underpinned, and a similar number continue to experience regular flooding in their gardens under certain conditions. The Headmaster's house on the Haileybury site appears also to be badly affected by these conditions. 2. The removal of any footpath or access of any type from Bailey Close on the grounds of safety and security of residents, particularly children (there are over 18 children living in Bailey Close), where this would be jeopardised by what would essentially be a through-route from Imperial Road to Hatch Lane. The security aspects (relating to WGS) of the current access into Hatch Lane would be compromised by this additional entry/exit. As that existing access is shown in the plans as being upgraded for both pedestrian and cycle use, and already provides the direct link with Imperial Road, it seems unnecessary and unwise to create a new one, particularly as it would also cut through a copse of trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order and identified as having important amenity value for the site. generation of additional traffic in Hatch Lane and Bailey Close, as cars associated with either the new houses or nearby schools would seek parking in Bailey Close to make use of the pedestrian access. This happens currently at both the Hatch Lane access point and in the lane running off Clewer Hill Road down to the WGS tennis courts. A Thames Valley Police officer formerly assigned to the Hatch Lane area has gone on record to voice his grave concerns about any situation which would encourage any rise in peak hour traffic in Hatch Lane. An increase in parking in Bailey Close would bring the situation back to the argument against a road access. the possible pressure to create a road link between the two "access points" (one in Bailey Close and one at the back of the new development) shown on the plan as being joined by the footpath. This would enable a 'rat run' to develop between Imperial Road and Bailey Close/Hatch Lane, which would have a completely destructive effect on the new development, Bailey Close and Hatch Lane. As the Convent of St. John the Baptist is now set to play a role in the developmental changes in the area, it seems prudent to balance the traffic in Hatch Lane very carefully. 3. Additional playing fields/open space which could be made available for public and school use. We would like also to call attention to the general traffic situation encompassing the site, and the need to consider the traffic issues inherent in this development within the Windsor context. We understand that the required survey of peak hour movements associated with Haileybury School when it was in operation on the site was carried out, although not under representative road conditions for WGS (there would have been no sixth form, and possibly no fifth form pupils on-site at that time in the term) nor in "worst case scenario" conditions, such as Ascot Week (the week following the one day on which the survey was carried out). The Royal Borough's own TPP document for 1999/2000 confirms that their monitoring programmes confirm a continuing rise in traffic levels (p. 4, paragraph 2.11), also suggested in tile traffic survey carried out to support the LEGOLAND development proposal. That survey revealed heavy congestion, and indeed periodic saturation, of Imperial Road junctions and Imperial Road and other roads feeding it. Whether or not a lawful limit was established when Haileybury used that access, the fact remains that the access has not been used by that amount of traffic for two years. During that time, surrounding traffic has increased and the traffic pattern has changed in response to the absence of week-long Haileybury traffic. We suggest that a considerable impact on existing traffic in Imperial Road will be experienced when the new traffic begins to emerge from the road access, and that its reverberations will be felt throughout the road system in the area. We are approaching GRIDLOCK. We ask to see the results of the year-long monitoring which was to have taken place, in agreement with the then County Council (February 1993), following the opening of Legoland.

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